As soon as Elijah had been taken away from him, Elisha took up the mantle that had fallen from the translated prophet, and went back and stood by Jordan, and, as Elijah had done as they two went over, he smote the water with the mantle, and the waters separated, and Elisha passed over.
He then came back to Jericho, and the men of the city called his attention to its pleasant situation, but the water was bitter and the ground barren. Elisha took salt and cast it into the spring, and said, "Thus says the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha." (2 Kings 2:21-22)
Shortly afterward, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel, and the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom, went against him, and came out into the wilderness where there was no water; and according to the word of Elisha, "there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water," (2 Kings 3:20) and this with "neither wind nor rain." (2 Kings 3:17)
Next there came to him a woman whose husband had died in debt, and the creditor had come to take her two sons for bondmen to pay the debt, and all they had was a single pot of oil. Elisha told her to go and borrow empty vessels from all her neighbors, and then pour into these from her one pot of oil till they were all full, then go and sell the oil, pay the debt, and she and her sons live of the rest.
Then the next account of him is that given in our lesson. "It fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem." (2 Kings 4:8)
Shunem was a city of the tribe of Issachar, (Joshua 19:18) about five miles south of Mount Tabor, about three miles from Jezreel, and in full view of the point on Mount Carmel where Elijah stood when the great decision was made between the Lord and Baal. It was at Shunem where the Philistines had pitched, when Saul saw them from Mount Gilboa, and his heart failed him, and he went and had a spiritualist medium at Endor hold a seance for him. (1 Samuel 28:4)
At Shunem Elisha found "a great woman," a good woman too, as events proved; "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. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passes by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray you, 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 comes to us, that he shall turn in thither." (2 Kings 4:8-10)
And this kindness to Elisha was not forgotten by him, nor by the Lord. "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister." (Hebrews 6:10) "He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." (Matthew 10:41-42)
The Lord wants people to use hospitality. It is one of the qualifications demanded in one who shall be chosen to be elder of the church. "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach." (1 Timothy 3:2)
The Lord wants it to be genuine hospitality too. He says, "Use hospitality one to another without grudging." (1 Peter 4:9)
When we see people coming to our house, we say, "I should like to know what they are coming here for. I just wish they would stay away;" and then, when they reach the house, say, "How do you do? I am so glad to see you! Sit right down. Why, I haven't seen you for so long. Oh! you must stay to dinner. I can't think of your going before dinner," &c., &c.
Then we rustle around and get a big dinner, and have a grand time gossiping about everybody in the neighborhood, and finally the visitors go away, and then we say, "There, I am glad they are gone, and now I hope they will stay away," &c., &c.
And we call that hospitality! But it is no such thing. Hospitality, to be real hospitality, must be "without grudging," must be from the heart, before people come, while they are with us, and after they are gone. Nor are we to be forgetful to entertain strangers. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2)
This Shunammite was genuinely hospitable. She thought, and planned, and executed, to make her guest comfortable, and specially because he was a "man of God." And she was richly rewarded for it.
1. First, by being blessed was the whole history of the nation shows, the highest aspiration of every wife among the children of Israel--the boon of embracing a son in hope of the coming Messiah.
2. And second, the wonderful blessing of having him restored to her even from the dead.
Thus the Lord, in His loving-kindness, remembered and blessed the acts of kindness that had been shown to His servant.
But the Lord's mercy and goodness is not limited to our acts. Once David sat in his house thinking. Presently he spoke, and said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains." (2 Samuel 7:2)
That same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan to go and tell David that "The Lord tells you that He will make you a house. ... And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you: your throne shall be established forever." (2 Samuel 7:11,16)
David was not allowed to build a house for the Lord. But because he thought of it, because his mind had a care for the work and worship of God, God took note of the thought and blessed it with a reward that embraces eternity. Oh that there were more men like David! Oh that there were more women like this Shunammite, to take thought and care for the work, the worship, and the service of God! What blessings would be upon such! What grace would be to the children of men! "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2) "And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died." (2 Kings 4:18-20)
It is supposed that the child's disease was sunstroke, followed by brain fever. "And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray you, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore will you go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor Sabbath. And she said, It shall be well." (2 Kings 4:21-23)
The new moon, the beginning of the month, was a solemn feast, day, (Psalm 81:3) and the Sabbath was the day of weekly convocation. It would be natural for her to wish to go to the man of God on these days, but as it was neither, her husband is surprised, and yet she has such faith that the child shall be restored, that she will not allow her husband to suffer the grief of knowing that his only child is dead. And when Elisha asks her if it is well with herself, with her husband, and with her child, her answer is, "It is well." (2 Kings 4:26)
Thus may say everyone who believes in God. Has death taken away your child? God has said, "Your children shall come again to their own border. They shall come again from the land of the enemy." (Jeremiah 31:16-17)
Death is the enemy, and God has promised to destroy it, and bring back those who are held in its strong grasp. There is One who has all power in Heaven and in earth. He lives, and was dead; and is alive forevermore, and has the keys of hell (the grave) and of death. (Revelation 1:18) And trusting in Him, even though the child be dead, we can truly say, "It is well." For when He shall call, the child shall live, never to die any more. "Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not your riding for me, except I bid you." (2 Kings 4:24)
It seems strange that people would use an animal for riding that has to be followed by a person on foot to whip it up all the time. But in the East, to this day, the people do just that thing. A late traveler thus tells of the donkey boys in Damascus:
"These persecutors run after the animals, shouting and goading them for hours together; they keep the donkey in a gallop always, yet never get tired themselves nor fall behind."--Signs of the Times, September 3, 1885--Notes on the International Lesson, September 13--2 Kings 4:18-37
A.T. Jones