The Shunemmite's Faith
"I will praise Thee: for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation." (Psalms 118:21)
During the time of Elisha, a prophet of Israel, there was a woman of some means who lived in the village of Shunem, which was part of the tribe of Issachar. On his journeys around Israel, Elisha would often pass through this village as the Lord would direct him. On one of these occasions, this woman from Shunem stopped Elisha and constrained him to come to her home for a meal, and so it happened that, from that time forth, when Elisha would pass through town, he would stop at the woman's house to eat.
After some time had passed, the Shunemmite woman said to her husband, "Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither." (2 Kings 4:9, 10) Her husband was in agreement, so they built and furnished a small addition on their house to accommodate the man of God when he would come by.
Eventually, Elisha did stop by the woman's house in Shunem and he used the little room that they built for him to rest in. He was so thankful for all that this woman had done to care for him, that he determined to do something nice for her in return. He had his servant Gehazi call the woman to him, and he offered to put in a good word for her with the king of Israel, or, at the least, with the captain of the host. Having some influence with the king, Elisha thought that she and her husband might be given some privilege, and perhaps move to the capitol. The woman refused the offer, being content to live among her own people - she desired no reward for what she did out of love, to honor her Maker. So, determined to bless this woman for her faithfulness, and knowing that she was childless, Elisha prophesied that God would grant her a son which would be born at a set time in the future. She soon conceived according to the word of the Lord through His prophet, and she gave birth to a son at the time that Elisha had told her.
There are so many lessons in this story that speak to my heart. We know that Elijah the prophet was a type and foreshadowing of John the Baptist. Elisha, though, is a type of Jesus Christ. Elisha was given a double portion of the power and anointing of Elijah just as Jesus' ministry far outshone John's. Jesus was indeed the Anointed One of Israel. The Shunemmite woman's care and devotion to the man of God is an example of the devotion that we should show in our service to our Lord and Savior. Hers was a continuing commitment to serve the man of God. Every opportunity that she found to serve him, she took full advantage of, giving of her time, labor, and substance. We owe Christ our life and our substance also, and we should never expect earthly rewards, or position, or power for what we do for the Lord. The salvation with which He so richly blesses us is reward enough, and His sacrifice on the cross for us is a gift that we can never adequately repay. The thing that Christ does freely bless us with for our service, however, is the same thing that Elisha blessed the woman with: the gift of life. The woman and her husband were old and unable to conceive on their own, but God stepped in and gave them a life that came directly from Him. We, too, are unable to produce spiritual life through our own efforts - it is strictly the gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not that Christ wants to merely bring us salvation and give us life, He wants to be our salvation and become our life! "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)
As every Christian soon discovers, things do not always go smoothly in their lives. There are trials and hardships that we encounter in our walk that we do not expect. They can discourage us, they can bewilder us, and they can even shake our very faith in God; but be assured that all these things have their purpose in transforming us into fully mature children of God.
Many stories in the Bible illustrate this victory/trial/deliverance pattern. One such story is the story of Israel's deliverance from their bondage in Egypt. This story typifies our salvation and baptism in Christ. Just as they were spared the death of their firstborn by the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, we have been spared from spiritual death by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. They escaped certain death at the hands of Pharoah and his legions, passing through the waters of the Red Sea as though they were passing from death into life. Similarly, we have escaped the power of Satan and his hoards by passing through the waters of baptism from death into life. The very next thing that happened to Israel after such a glorious victory, however, was a desperate trial. They journeyed three days into the wilderness and found no water, and when they did discover some, it was bitter. As humans can only survive three days without water, they were facing certain death without God's help. Our Shunemite woman soon faced a desperate trial of her own, too. After the child that God had given her was grown some, he fell sick one day while going out to visit his father in the fields. He complained that his head was hurting him, and his father had him carried to his mother. It was there, on his mother's knee, that he died. In both cases, God had miraculously given life to those who trusted in Him, but then it seemed that it was slipping away.
The way that the individuals who were affected by these two trials reacted was very different. In the case of the Israelite's need for water, we find that they murmured against Moses, the man of God, as though it was his fault for bringing them out there to die. The woman of Shunem's reaction, on the other hand, was quite different. She quietly took the child to Elisha's room, laid him on his bed, shut the door, and asked her husband to have a servant prepare an ass so that she could go to the man of God. There is no record of her wailing, or sobbing, or mourning at all, just a quiet determination to do what she knew she must. When her husband suggested that it might not be the right thing to do, she simply said, "It shall be well."
It was not as though the woman of Shunem had no feelings about what happened to her son. She was not simply trying to mask a torrent of emotions that was seething inside of her lest she appear anything less than godly. No, her actions were too deliberate, and her decisions too rational to imagine that she was blinded by rage or grief. Though she was certainly vexed by what was going on, yet her faith guided her to make the right choices that could restore her son to life.
When we face the desperate circumstances of life, how do we deal with them? Do we murmur against God or against his ministers or, instead, do we with quiet faith and confidence in our heavenly Father say, "It shall be well." Believe me, God is able and willing to meet us on any plane of emotion. He knows our weaknesses and our frailties, and He loves us just the same. The man who brought his child to Jesus to be healed cried out to Him, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24) God will meet us wherever He finds us, but He is also training us as any good Father would, to be strong in faith so that we don't have to be tossed to and fro by every storm that enters our life. He wants us to understand that we can trust Him with every detail of our lives - the good and the bad.
The Shunemmite woman told her servant to ride hard toward Mt. Carmel where the man of God was. She said, "Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee." (2 Kings 4:24) She was not going to waste a moment in getting to the man of God, and neither should we. When we have needs in our lives we must not waste a moment getting to Jesus. He is the one Who can make the difference in our life. It is not the pastor, not the doctor, not the lawyer, and not the banker that we need most. It is Jesus. The best thing anyone can do for us at such times is to point us to Jesus. He is the One Who has the answers for our life, and every child of God has full access to the Savior.
When Elisha saw the woman coming some ways off, he sent his servant to inquire whether she, her husband, and her child were well. All she would say was, "It is well." This reminds me of the words of the great Horatio Spafford/Philip P. Bliss song, "Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul." The woman was not content just to communicate with the servant of the man of God, she wanted to see Elisha himself. Likewise, we must never be content to merely talk to a minister about our needs without going directly to the Son of God Himself. God is more than capable of speaking to us through His Holy Spirit.
When our lady finally reaches Elisha, and tells him what has occurred, she further reveals her uncommon faith. She tells Elisha, "Did I desire a son of my lord?" (2 Kings 4:28) She put the responsibility for her son's well-being on Elisha! It was he who promised the child by the word of the Lord - she had not asked for the child herself - so it was he who must heal him. This is a concept and a principle that we too often miss as Christians. You see, we have not chosen God, but He has chosen us. We did not just one day wake up to the fact that we needed a savior - God first drew us to Himself and made us understand our need. Like Moses who turned aside to see the burning bush, God arranges circumstances in our lives to captivate us and draw us aside from our routine so that He can speak to us. This woman believed that God gave the child, so it was up to God to preserve the child. We, too, must believe that if God saved us, He is responsible for keeping us, delivering us, and maturing us into the image of His Son. It is not of our own works lest we have something to boast about, but by His grace that we are saved. Therefore, we can approach the throne of grace boldly as the Shunemmite did, so that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Elisha placed his own staff in the hands of his servant Gehazi, and told him to go to the child and place it on his face, stopping for nothing or no one on the way. For many of us, this would have been enough. Most would think that their prayers had been answered and would follow the servant to see the miracle, but the woman told Elisha, "As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." (2 Kings 4:30) We must never be distracted by anything less than Christ. The staff in this case may represent a number of things that we substitute for an intimate relationship with the Lord. It could be the law, or religion, or some sectarian doctrine. It could be a method, ritual, or tradition. Whatever it is, if it is not Christ, we can't afford to follow it. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, and not leave His side.
Because of her faith, Elisha chose to follow her back to the house. Her faith compelled him to follow her. Oh, what incredible faith that captures the heart of God and moves Him on our behalf! I think of the woman in Jesus' day who said in her heart, "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole," and she was healed without Jesus even being aware of her need until after she was healed. God has said that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. Beloved, delighting oneself in the Lord is not simply showing up at church every Sunday, and paying your tithes. It is about an intimate, day by day relationship with the Savior that transcends church altogether. You cease thinking of church as someplace you go, and realize that it is something you are! "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1Corinthians 3:16)
The servant, Gehazi, went on ahead of Elisha and the woman, and did as he was told by his master to do, but there was no result. The staff had no effect on the child, and so he reported the result to Elisha. What Elisha did next was unusual. When they reached the house, and he saw the dead child, he shut the door of the room, and prayed. "And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm." (2 Kings 4:34) Keeping in mind that Elisha is a shadow of Jesus Christ in this story, we must understand the intimate relationship that our Lord desires to have with us. There is nothing casual about our arrangement. In order for us to have the life of Christ manifested in our mortal bodies, our mouth must speak as His mouth, and our eyes see His eyes, and our hands must do as He does. We must learn to give up speaking how and what we like, not being aware - or worse, not caring - who we hurt in the process. We must let His words be our words. We must give up seeing only our own selfish needs, and ignoring the needs of others all around us. We must learn to see as He sees. We must give up doing only the things that bring us pleasures at the expense of others, and not seeking to use our labors to build the kingdom of God. We must learn to do as He would do. This is not just an emulation of the life of Christ that I'm talking about, it is receiving His very life in us. It is Jesus living out His life through us. Elisha stretched himself on this child twice which indicates that he was infusing his own life into the body of this lifeless child. Dear ones, can it be any clearer? Without Him we can do nothing. Without Him we are but dead corpses! Oh yes, we may still move about and do many things but, religious or not, they will be dead works, and not accomplish the will of the Lord.
When the child was restored to life, Elisha called his mother to come and take the child up in her arms. This would be the first thought of any mother who had gone through such a trial, to embrace her precious son to herself. This woman, however, did something else first. She bowed herself to the ground at the feet of Elisha in deep, heart-felt gratitude. We must never take God for granted. When He blesses our lives, we should give Him the praise and thanksgiving that He deserves.
Father in heaven, make us more and more like the Shunemmite woman. Help us, Lord, to exercise the faith that you have planted inside each one of us. Let us not be content with following the staff of God, but miss the very One Who wields it. And Father, grant us boldness to approach Your throne, knowing that what You have begun in us, You will also finish. Amen.
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes." (Psalms 118:8, 9)
"For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (Proverbs 3:26)
During the time of Elisha, a prophet of Israel, there was a woman of some means who lived in the village of Shunem, which was part of the tribe of Issachar. On his journeys around Israel, Elisha would often pass through this village as the Lord would direct him. On one of these occasions, this woman from Shunem stopped Elisha and constrained him to come to her home for a meal, and so it happened that, from that time forth, when Elisha would pass through town, he would stop at the woman's house to eat.
After some time had passed, the Shunemmite woman said to her husband, "Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither." (2 Kings 4:9, 10) Her husband was in agreement, so they built and furnished a small addition on their house to accommodate the man of God when he would come by.
Eventually, Elisha did stop by the woman's house in Shunem and he used the little room that they built for him to rest in. He was so thankful for all that this woman had done to care for him, that he determined to do something nice for her in return. He had his servant Gehazi call the woman to him, and he offered to put in a good word for her with the king of Israel, or, at the least, with the captain of the host. Having some influence with the king, Elisha thought that she and her husband might be given some privilege, and perhaps move to the capitol. The woman refused the offer, being content to live among her own people - she desired no reward for what she did out of love, to honor her Maker. So, determined to bless this woman for her faithfulness, and knowing that she was childless, Elisha prophesied that God would grant her a son which would be born at a set time in the future. She soon conceived according to the word of the Lord through His prophet, and she gave birth to a son at the time that Elisha had told her.
There are so many lessons in this story that speak to my heart. We know that Elijah the prophet was a type and foreshadowing of John the Baptist. Elisha, though, is a type of Jesus Christ. Elisha was given a double portion of the power and anointing of Elijah just as Jesus' ministry far outshone John's. Jesus was indeed the Anointed One of Israel. The Shunemmite woman's care and devotion to the man of God is an example of the devotion that we should show in our service to our Lord and Savior. Hers was a continuing commitment to serve the man of God. Every opportunity that she found to serve him, she took full advantage of, giving of her time, labor, and substance. We owe Christ our life and our substance also, and we should never expect earthly rewards, or position, or power for what we do for the Lord. The salvation with which He so richly blesses us is reward enough, and His sacrifice on the cross for us is a gift that we can never adequately repay. The thing that Christ does freely bless us with for our service, however, is the same thing that Elisha blessed the woman with: the gift of life. The woman and her husband were old and unable to conceive on their own, but God stepped in and gave them a life that came directly from Him. We, too, are unable to produce spiritual life through our own efforts - it is strictly the gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not that Christ wants to merely bring us salvation and give us life, He wants to be our salvation and become our life! "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)
As every Christian soon discovers, things do not always go smoothly in their lives. There are trials and hardships that we encounter in our walk that we do not expect. They can discourage us, they can bewilder us, and they can even shake our very faith in God; but be assured that all these things have their purpose in transforming us into fully mature children of God.
Many stories in the Bible illustrate this victory/trial/deliverance pattern. One such story is the story of Israel's deliverance from their bondage in Egypt. This story typifies our salvation and baptism in Christ. Just as they were spared the death of their firstborn by the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, we have been spared from spiritual death by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. They escaped certain death at the hands of Pharoah and his legions, passing through the waters of the Red Sea as though they were passing from death into life. Similarly, we have escaped the power of Satan and his hoards by passing through the waters of baptism from death into life. The very next thing that happened to Israel after such a glorious victory, however, was a desperate trial. They journeyed three days into the wilderness and found no water, and when they did discover some, it was bitter. As humans can only survive three days without water, they were facing certain death without God's help. Our Shunemite woman soon faced a desperate trial of her own, too. After the child that God had given her was grown some, he fell sick one day while going out to visit his father in the fields. He complained that his head was hurting him, and his father had him carried to his mother. It was there, on his mother's knee, that he died. In both cases, God had miraculously given life to those who trusted in Him, but then it seemed that it was slipping away.
The way that the individuals who were affected by these two trials reacted was very different. In the case of the Israelite's need for water, we find that they murmured against Moses, the man of God, as though it was his fault for bringing them out there to die. The woman of Shunem's reaction, on the other hand, was quite different. She quietly took the child to Elisha's room, laid him on his bed, shut the door, and asked her husband to have a servant prepare an ass so that she could go to the man of God. There is no record of her wailing, or sobbing, or mourning at all, just a quiet determination to do what she knew she must. When her husband suggested that it might not be the right thing to do, she simply said, "It shall be well."
It was not as though the woman of Shunem had no feelings about what happened to her son. She was not simply trying to mask a torrent of emotions that was seething inside of her lest she appear anything less than godly. No, her actions were too deliberate, and her decisions too rational to imagine that she was blinded by rage or grief. Though she was certainly vexed by what was going on, yet her faith guided her to make the right choices that could restore her son to life.
When we face the desperate circumstances of life, how do we deal with them? Do we murmur against God or against his ministers or, instead, do we with quiet faith and confidence in our heavenly Father say, "It shall be well." Believe me, God is able and willing to meet us on any plane of emotion. He knows our weaknesses and our frailties, and He loves us just the same. The man who brought his child to Jesus to be healed cried out to Him, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24) God will meet us wherever He finds us, but He is also training us as any good Father would, to be strong in faith so that we don't have to be tossed to and fro by every storm that enters our life. He wants us to understand that we can trust Him with every detail of our lives - the good and the bad.
The Shunemmite woman told her servant to ride hard toward Mt. Carmel where the man of God was. She said, "Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee." (2 Kings 4:24) She was not going to waste a moment in getting to the man of God, and neither should we. When we have needs in our lives we must not waste a moment getting to Jesus. He is the one Who can make the difference in our life. It is not the pastor, not the doctor, not the lawyer, and not the banker that we need most. It is Jesus. The best thing anyone can do for us at such times is to point us to Jesus. He is the One Who has the answers for our life, and every child of God has full access to the Savior.
When Elisha saw the woman coming some ways off, he sent his servant to inquire whether she, her husband, and her child were well. All she would say was, "It is well." This reminds me of the words of the great Horatio Spafford/Philip P. Bliss song, "Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul." The woman was not content just to communicate with the servant of the man of God, she wanted to see Elisha himself. Likewise, we must never be content to merely talk to a minister about our needs without going directly to the Son of God Himself. God is more than capable of speaking to us through His Holy Spirit.
When our lady finally reaches Elisha, and tells him what has occurred, she further reveals her uncommon faith. She tells Elisha, "Did I desire a son of my lord?" (2 Kings 4:28) She put the responsibility for her son's well-being on Elisha! It was he who promised the child by the word of the Lord - she had not asked for the child herself - so it was he who must heal him. This is a concept and a principle that we too often miss as Christians. You see, we have not chosen God, but He has chosen us. We did not just one day wake up to the fact that we needed a savior - God first drew us to Himself and made us understand our need. Like Moses who turned aside to see the burning bush, God arranges circumstances in our lives to captivate us and draw us aside from our routine so that He can speak to us. This woman believed that God gave the child, so it was up to God to preserve the child. We, too, must believe that if God saved us, He is responsible for keeping us, delivering us, and maturing us into the image of His Son. It is not of our own works lest we have something to boast about, but by His grace that we are saved. Therefore, we can approach the throne of grace boldly as the Shunemmite did, so that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Elisha placed his own staff in the hands of his servant Gehazi, and told him to go to the child and place it on his face, stopping for nothing or no one on the way. For many of us, this would have been enough. Most would think that their prayers had been answered and would follow the servant to see the miracle, but the woman told Elisha, "As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." (2 Kings 4:30) We must never be distracted by anything less than Christ. The staff in this case may represent a number of things that we substitute for an intimate relationship with the Lord. It could be the law, or religion, or some sectarian doctrine. It could be a method, ritual, or tradition. Whatever it is, if it is not Christ, we can't afford to follow it. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, and not leave His side.
Because of her faith, Elisha chose to follow her back to the house. Her faith compelled him to follow her. Oh, what incredible faith that captures the heart of God and moves Him on our behalf! I think of the woman in Jesus' day who said in her heart, "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole," and she was healed without Jesus even being aware of her need until after she was healed. God has said that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. Beloved, delighting oneself in the Lord is not simply showing up at church every Sunday, and paying your tithes. It is about an intimate, day by day relationship with the Savior that transcends church altogether. You cease thinking of church as someplace you go, and realize that it is something you are! "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1Corinthians 3:16)
The servant, Gehazi, went on ahead of Elisha and the woman, and did as he was told by his master to do, but there was no result. The staff had no effect on the child, and so he reported the result to Elisha. What Elisha did next was unusual. When they reached the house, and he saw the dead child, he shut the door of the room, and prayed. "And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm." (2 Kings 4:34) Keeping in mind that Elisha is a shadow of Jesus Christ in this story, we must understand the intimate relationship that our Lord desires to have with us. There is nothing casual about our arrangement. In order for us to have the life of Christ manifested in our mortal bodies, our mouth must speak as His mouth, and our eyes see His eyes, and our hands must do as He does. We must learn to give up speaking how and what we like, not being aware - or worse, not caring - who we hurt in the process. We must let His words be our words. We must give up seeing only our own selfish needs, and ignoring the needs of others all around us. We must learn to see as He sees. We must give up doing only the things that bring us pleasures at the expense of others, and not seeking to use our labors to build the kingdom of God. We must learn to do as He would do. This is not just an emulation of the life of Christ that I'm talking about, it is receiving His very life in us. It is Jesus living out His life through us. Elisha stretched himself on this child twice which indicates that he was infusing his own life into the body of this lifeless child. Dear ones, can it be any clearer? Without Him we can do nothing. Without Him we are but dead corpses! Oh yes, we may still move about and do many things but, religious or not, they will be dead works, and not accomplish the will of the Lord.
When the child was restored to life, Elisha called his mother to come and take the child up in her arms. This would be the first thought of any mother who had gone through such a trial, to embrace her precious son to herself. This woman, however, did something else first. She bowed herself to the ground at the feet of Elisha in deep, heart-felt gratitude. We must never take God for granted. When He blesses our lives, we should give Him the praise and thanksgiving that He deserves.
Father in heaven, make us more and more like the Shunemmite woman. Help us, Lord, to exercise the faith that you have planted inside each one of us. Let us not be content with following the staff of God, but miss the very One Who wields it. And Father, grant us boldness to approach Your throne, knowing that what You have begun in us, You will also finish. Amen.
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes." (Psalms 118:8, 9)
"For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (Proverbs 3:26)
Comments
Post a Comment