In the fifth message of Elisha: God’s Double Agent, Pastor Jeff Anders preaches Elisha’s seventh miracle: the raising of the Shunammite’s son in 2 Kings 4. A mother who believed and a prophet who prayed saw God bring a dead boy back to life.
Recap: God’s Double Agent
Elijah threw his mantle on Elisha in 1 Kings 19, and Elisha picked it up when Elijah was taken. Elijah was great not because of who he was but because of the power of God on him, and that power was now on Elisha.
- Elisha allowed no distance between himself and the man of God. We can’t allow distance between ourselves and God’s people, God’s church, and God’s Son. When there’s distance, the devil starts picking people off.
- Elijah’s ministry had eight miracles and Elisha’s sixteen. So far: the dividing of the Jordan and the healing of Jericho’s waters (2 Kings 2), the cursing of the mocking youths, the defeat of the Moabites, and the widow’s oil.
- Miracle six: the great woman of Shunem (2 Kings 4:8) fed Elisha and made a prophet’s chamber for him. She was selfless and satisfied. When Gehazi noticed she had no son and her husband was old, Elisha announced she would hold a son about that time next year, and God opened her womb.
Miracle Seven: The Raising of the Shunammite’s Son
The Problem
In 2 Kings 4:18–20, the boy went out to his father among the reapers, cried out about his head, and was carried to his mother. He died in her lap.
- We don’t know what the sickness was. Whatever it was, God allowed it.
- Sometimes God sets up something good by allowing something bad. Job lost everything before God gave him twice as much.
- In John 9, a man was born blind so that God might be glorified in his healing.
- Asking God “why?” is a theologically sound question, because He did allow it and He always has a reason.
She Laid Him on the Prophet’s Bed
In 2 Kings 4:21, she carried him up to the man of God’s bed, shut the door, and went out.
- She may have hidden him so he wouldn’t be buried before she could reach the man of God.
- She laid him where Elisha had prayed down the power and presence of God.
- Mothers who know God want their children who are dead in trespasses and sins in the place where God is moving.
The Pursuit of the Shunammite
She Sought the Man of God
She asked her husband for a servant and a donkey so she could run to the man of God (2 Kings 4:22). When he asked why she was going on an ordinary day, she only answered that it would be well (2 Kings 4:23). She told the servant to drive hard and not slow down for her (2 Kings 4:24), and she rode about 25 miles to Mount Carmel (2 Kings 4:25).
- When Gehazi ran to ask whether all was well with her, her husband, and her child, she said it was well (2 Kings 4:26). Those were words of faith: God is good, sovereign, and in control. If she could say it, how much more can we say, “It is well with my soul”?
- That is mountain-moving faith, praying according to the will of God.
- When God pulls His hand back and hard things come, whether a child dead physically or dead spiritually, the right response is to seek Him. Scripture says so again and again:
- Seek Him with all your heart and soul and you will find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13).
- Seek the Lord and His strength, and seek His face continually (Psalm 105:4).
- Seek Him while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6).
- Ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7–8).
- God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
A New Testament Mother Who Kept Seeking
In Matthew 15:21–28, a Gentile woman of Canaan begged Jesus to help her demon-vexed daughter.
- He didn’t answer her a word, the disciples wanted her sent away, and Jesus said He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel.
- She kept worshiping and asking for help. Even when He spoke of not giving the children’s bread to the dogs, she answered that the dogs eat the crumbs.
- Jesus called her faith great, and her daughter was healed that very hour.
- Sometimes the Lord lets us go a while before He answers, to see whether we’re really seeking or just playing games. Faith kept her coming, and faith drove the Shunammite to the man of God.
She Stooped, She Spoke, and She Stayed
- She stooped: she caught Elisha by the feet. Gehazi tried to push her away, but Elisha said to leave her alone, because her soul was vexed and the Lord hadn’t shown him why (2 Kings 4:27).
- She spoke: she reminded him that she hadn’t asked for a son and had told him not to deceive her (2 Kings 4:28). Why give her a son only to lose him?
- She stayed: Elisha sent Gehazi ahead to lay his staff on the child’s face. She vowed, by the life of the Lord, not to leave Elisha (2 Kings 4:30), just as Elisha had refused to leave Elijah. Even in her anguish, she allowed no distance between herself and the man of God.
The Miracle
- Gehazi came back and reported that the child had not awakened (2 Kings 4:31).
- Elisha went in, shut the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord (2 Kings 4:33).
- He stretched himself on the child, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, hand to hand. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
- Elisha had Gehazi call her and gave her back her son. She bowed at his feet, took up her son, and went out (2 Kings 4:36).
Take-Homes
- God sometimes allows bad things to set up something good, so that He is glorified. It’s all right to ask Him why.
- Get your children where God is moving. That’s where those dead in sin can find life.
- When trouble comes, seek God with all your heart. He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
- Faith says “It is well” even before the answer comes.
- Allow no distance. Stay close to God and His people, even in your pain.
- There’s no telling what God might do if the women would believe and the men would pray.