God told the widow to gather vessels and pour the oil herself ( 2 Kings 4:1-7 ). After the death of her son, the Shunammite woman went on with life very carefully and methodically. God Speaks is a beautiful hardcover gift book featuring forty short letters that have been compiled from the promises and affirmations of God in the Bible. (LogOut/ She instructed her servant to drive her saddled donkey hard. 21. I laughed when I came to this conclusion. Her story is found in 2 Kings 4 and 8. Ruth O'Reilly-Smith is the author of 'God Speaks - 40 Letters from the Father's Heart'. As I read the start of her story though, I saw something Id not noticed before. We are, however, no more powerless than Elisha, for he of himself could not restore the Shunamitesson. Once one knows how to run the vision then the process of running the vision is very natural. Watchmen! And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. Lyrics courtesy of Timeless Truths. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. event : evt, The prophet told the Shunammite woman that she would have a son. God uses Elisha to restore life to the child and when he tells the woman to receive her son, she falls at his feet, this time with a heart full of gratitude and then she picks up her son and goes out of the room. It is believed that the location of the Biblical Shunem, is located in the northern part of modern day Israel. She urges the prophet Elisha to come and eat at her home, and so develops a friendship. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.. 9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.. 10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall . The Shunammite woman lifts her dead child and places him on Elishas bed, before shutting the door behind her. This story is an adaptation of 2 Kings 4:8-37. But God, in his mercy, convicted and helped me through his Word, through the story of the Shunammite woman's suffering. But sure enough, within a year she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; She shows hospitality to the prophet Elisha and his servant, Gehazi as they pass through her village of Shunem on their way to Mt. One day Elisha went to Shunem. Hello. The journey will likely be longer than I can imagine, but it has finally begun, and that's all that matters. Jake arrived first and found the lifeless form of the boy lying where his mother had left him. Reviving the child also revived Elisha to empathy and attachment. . Someone (I forget who) once said there are no coincidences in the Bible. Since that time I've worked as a teacher, musician, cleaning lady, tax professional, and artist, but never as a writer. Im not saying thats bad, just putting things together. Her soul is bitter within her, and the Lord has hidden it from me., Then the woman spoke, tears streaming down her face. All was not well. Elisha and the Shunammite woman (bummyla.wordpress.com) 2 Kings 5. And he arose, and followed her. The statement that she was a great woman could have meant that she was older, wealthy, or nobler. Im thankful that our Father gave us so many great examples of godly women in the Bible. Wailing, crying, and mourning would all have been natural responses to the death of a child. Hi Angela! She is hospitable, giving, kind, very persuasive, goes out of her way for others and has faith. She replies, All is well.. So he called her. The strength of this womans testimony was that she refused to walk in fear. Why was it important to record the number of sneezes? JAGABAN ft SELINA TESTED EPISODE 15 part 2.. War without end .. Because she had a special relationship with the prophet Elisha, her child was miraculously conceived and miraculously resurrected. It came right to this article. You are to speak out (The Lord has called you out to be Bold today), Christian view of the Color Run (Holi festival): Putting the brakes on Pagan Christianity -stop bringing the World into our churches, It is well, it is well said the Shunamite woman 2 Kings 4:8-37, KNOW YOUR ENEMY Ephesians 6 - AND HIS SCHEMES. Praise God! O man of God, dont deceive me and get my hopes up like that (2 Kings 4:16 NLT). Use whatever resources you have to be a blessing to others. This woman talked to her husband and made a request. What must be mentioned is the author's pacing, which masterfully recreates what must have been the pace of life at those times. Carmel (where Elisha was) and the return trip- first by Gehazi and then when Elisha went to the boy. The statement that she was a great woman could have meant that she was older, wealthy, or nobler. She calls for her husband to send her one of the servants to prepare a donkey that she may ride quickly to Elisha and come back again. It is one of my favorite stories, and how she reappears in chapter 8. The Bible calls her a great woman. Her response was that she didnt need anything. Observe carefully what Elisha did when thus foiled in his first effort. Elisha goes to the house and locks himself in the room with the child until he returns him to life; He calls to the Shunamite woman to "take up thy son". The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. A desire fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12)! And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. However, before mentioning the death of her son to her husband, she sought to "run to the man of God" and speak to Elisha. In the story, the prophet Elisha warns this woman to leave her home and travel wherever she could because a famine was coming on the land for seven years. In fact, she made him a room upstairs in her house how couldanyone say no to that? She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. She rocked the little fellow in her lap until noon, and then he died. Run out to meet her and ask her, Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?, Yes, the woman told Gehazi, everything is fine. (2 Kings 4:20-26 NKJV, emphasis added). The greatest blessings are often, if not always, hidden under rough disguises. Rabbah 2:5:3).The Rabbis relate in a playful manner to the story of the son of the Shunammite woman, in order to derive the laws relating to corpse impurity. In fact, he was dead. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. is it well with the child? Wisely, she recognized both his great acts and his needs, and said to her husband: I am sure it is a holy man of God who comes here regularly. Change). She went ahead to entreat her husband to make a little room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a . Funny I had just starting playing It is well with my soul by Caleb and Sol Rexius and the Holy Spirit prompted me to search it is well. For her reward, God gave the woman a miracle: a son of her own. Her husband asks why she wants to go now, there no special festival, nor is it the Sabbath? " continue reading on The Shunammite woman by O.Peng Related articles. Is all well with the child? And she answered, All is well.. As instructed, Jake asked, Is it well with you? Its not a holiday, is it? He didnt even think to ask about their son. She moved her entire family to live among the Philistines at his word. This latter reason is supported by her further action of shutting . Benefits of reading the bible. Her name was Abishag. She was hospitable yet called everything out as it was. Let me tell you about my grandmother-She had a heart of goldbut was fighting tough. It is well with my soul, It was fun correcting him Isnt it interesting that just as the Shunammite woman goes into see the king, Gehazi had just finished telling him about some of the miracles Elisha had done, specifically the time Elisha had raised a womans son from the dead. The Shulammite woman, or Shulammite maiden, is the bride of Solomon who features in the Song of Songs. But the Shunammite woman spoke faith, life and truth. Great hymn, too Hope you are well, God bless. She carried him upstairs put, him on Elishas bed and shut the door- in other words did she just hide him? Elisha offers to say a good word for her before the king, and she could care less, so she maybe wasnt high nobility-but she didnt need help in that area. Dont slow down unless I tell you to., As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. While most people wouldnt be able to build a room for a prophet, God sees what we have and recognizes what we give accordingly. I had a coworker who kept belting out "Cannonball!" while singing along to Panama by Van Halen. She hosted Elisha in a room on the roof, and he blessed her because of her kind hospitality, promising her a child. Though the Shunammite woman had no thought of reward when she made room for God, he fulfilled her heart's desire. If so, how sad to consider the immediate distress of 2 Kings 4:20. Elisha's words were not made-up man's words, they were God's words and when God promises something it always happens. She pushed through her fear and reached out to the one person she knew could give her what she wanted-her son, alive again. On both these occasions, the ruler and the sick woman knew they had to get to Jesus in order for them to experience what it means to be truly well. She had no child. She didnt laugh like Sarah did, but instead she said, Dont lie to me!. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. I know you probably think Im reaching, so lets go to the Bible and read what it says: So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. You are not, therefore, to look upon the restoration ofthese dead children, which in Gods name you are called to bring about, as being a thing unlikely or difficult when you remember who it is that works by your feeble instrumentality. As a prophet, Elisha traveled from city to city . Refrain: They're lying. One day the circuit-riding preacher, Elisha, and his traveling companion, Jake, came into the sleepy little town of Shunem. She put her son on Elishas bed and made plans. In the midst of our despair and out of the deep places of sorrow, may we too fall at the . Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! But Gehazi was unable to raise the child from the dead. "And the dead in Christ will rise first. The Lord our God is the source of our healing though. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Challenge: What is one thing that you can trust God for today? Living a Christian life will be fraught with challenges, but the Shunammite woman teaches us that we can trust God to be faithful when we step out in faith. Youd think a prophet would know it all, but here we see that for some reason, the Lord hid something from Elisha. In spite of the woman's uncertainties, she conceives and bears a son the following spring (2 Kings 4:17 ). My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. We have the same opportunity to trust God as the Shunammite woman did. She traveled 20 miles to Mount Carmel without letting anyone know anything was wrong with the child. Perhaps the Shunamite woman could not allow herself to be totally emotionally involved with an unexpected and un-asked for child conceived as a result of a prophecy in her later years? II Kings chapter 4, where we find her story, is also the haftarah portion which corresponds to parshat Vayera which tells of the miraculous birth of Abraham and Sarahs son Isaac as well as the binding of Isaac. So the woman did as the man of God instructed. (See the June Messenger Bible study.) So he called her. Im so much inspired by this woman, she didnt focus on the death of her child but all she said was IF IS WELL,at the end of everything it was well just as she said wooow wat a brave woman, Hi Rene, This utterance was a precise echo of the impassioned words with which Elisha himself had implored his beloved mentor, Elijah, not to die. And hath shed His own blood for my soul. It was this same peace that enabled Horatio G. Spafford to pen the words to the hymn It Is Well with My Soul when his four daughters were lost at sea, and his wife was saved alone. Indeed, a son is born at the designated time. Rather than spending a long time being unhappy, the Shunammite woman shows us that we may eventually have to accept our circumstances and so, why not be satisfied sooner rather than later? And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to bedone for thee? I am well. Jake had noticed that the couple had no children and that her husband is old. Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, Take your family and move to some other place, for the Lord has called for a famine on Israel that will last for seven years.. Not this momma. There are no coincidences in the Bible, theres only Providence. Calmly she carried the lifeless form of her son into the preachers room and laid him on the bed, then walked out and shut the door behind her. What we do know of her has consistently inspires me though and perhaps the fact that we dont know her name suggests we can all find something of our story in hers. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out. Jake) revive the boy? 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. Thank you. The two could not be more different. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat. And he said, What then is to bedone for her? Answer. She reminds me of my Grandma Betty. Dive into this 40 day journey with God during Lent, at the start of a new year or anytime you feel like connecting with your Maker in a deeper way. The father told the servants to carry his son home. This glorifies the Lord, and not man. God showed up (again) in the Shunammite womans life and He restored all that she had lost when she went to live among the Philistines. We dont even know her name. and the child?, Nevertheless, she pressed forward, and when she reached the man of God, she knelt down and took him by the feet, crying bitterly. Out of gratitude, Elisha asked her if there was anything he could do for her. What did she do? Christians, Muslims and Jews worship the sameGod? Perhaps she believed that her child would live again, and perhaps she knew that he was safe in the presence of the Redeemer. The interaction of these four people, each with his or her modern-day counterparts, constructs an intriguing parable with pointed lessons for Christians today. She is well-developed and very believable. If Jordan above me shall roll, In the midst of our despair and out of the deep places of sorrow, may we too fall at the feet of the one who turns our mourning into dancing and lovingly clothes us with gladness. He delivered this prophecy to her: At this season next year you will be embracing a son., The woman indeed became a mother and then we read of her child wandering in the heat of the day without water, becoming dehydrated, then sick, and ultimately dying. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. At the start of 2 Kings 8, Elisha warned the Shunammite woman to leave because there was going to be a 7-year-long famine. this woman encourage we children of God to increase our faith, even when it seems not to be fine. And when she came in to him, he said, "Pick up your son." 37 So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out. The episode of the Shunammite woman teaches that the charitable giving of food advances the resurrection of the dead, for "she urged him to have a meal" (II Kings 4:8) and thereby merited the resurrection of her son (Cant. Read the full affiliate disclosure. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The prophet Elisha performs two miracles. In 2 Kings 4:8-44, a Shunammite woman accommodated the prophet Elisha during his visit to the town of Shunem. The Woman of Shunem. The Shunammite Woman's Suffering. Thanks, Steven! This became a regular event. The Shunammite woman and her husband often saw Elisha, the man of God, passing their home, and eventually she prepared a room for him so he . The woman believed Elisha when he told her there would be a famine in the land. His mother held him on her lap, but thenthe boydied. long as ever the truth which we deliver is a matter apart from ourselves and unconnected with our innermost being, so long it will have no more effect upon a dead soul than Elishas staff had upon the dead child. Who knows??? She simply said, All will be well.. Phonetic spelling of shunammite. She offered him an open invitation of hospitality and whenever he was in the area, he would stay at her house. 2 Kings 4:8-37; 8:1-6. it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. Likewise, with whatever we have, we should do the same. Its not often when unnamed characters in the Bible show up in more than one place. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us. Whats going on? The Shunammite's son dies seemingly without warning. After doing that for a while, she suggested to her husband that they build a room for Elisha to stay in whenever he came by. But she did none of those things. is it well with the child? And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This woman got permission from her husband to set up a guest room for Elisha, acknowledging Elisha as a true prophet and holy man of God. , This is a wonderful post, Angela! Good teaching, and timely. Carmel. If you do, it could end up being a weight that keeps you back, potentially costing you your life. But the Hebrew word used in that sentence had many nuances. If your first method has been unsuccessful, you must improve upon it. Every time he was in the area he stopped to eat bread with the . II Kings 4 contains four miracles the prophet Elisha performed during the reign of the Israelite king Jehoram ( c. 850 BC ). What suppose to be coming out of our mouth is IT IS WELL, we must exhibit the faith of that shunamite woman as a child of God even when the going is not fine, what must be coming out of our mouth is IT IS WELL. At an old age, she had the strength to lift a car and I remember her last words as she fought with her doctor, always said with a Jersey shake:No one ever told me havinga littlesalt was some kind of mortal sin She took her family and settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years. })(); Your email address will not be published. Sometimes God gives us a promise and it seems like the promise is 'dead'. As I read the story in 2 Kings 8:1-6, I sensed that God was telling us to leave the UK. Her son is dead. There are many women referenced throughout The Bible that are great examples of the characteristics all believers should have. Sign up for a special email series here. With her dead son locked up in Elishas room, she knows no one will see him. One day she asked her husband if they could build a little room for him to stay in when he comes to town. And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. Land Based Fishing Berowra Waters, Ben Begley Wikipedia , Cliff Floyd Wife , Madonna Sorry Dancers , Oklahoma Firefighter Pension Calculator , Performance Management Of Pilots At Southwest Airlines , Nyc Doe 30 And Above Credits Clep , Batman: Arkham Knight Riddler Trophies Stagg Airship , Why Are . But the story of the Shunammite woman did not end when Elisha raised her son from the dead. The preacher saw her coming from a distance, as she was kicking up quite a bit of dust, and he sent Jake out to greet her and to find out if all was well. And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. )"; meaning unknown; of *Shunem), an unmarried girl who was chosen to serve as skhenet to King David. Woman that she was older, wealthy, or nobler run the vision then the process running. ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ) he went again why did the shunammite woman say, it is well meet him, how! He of himself could not restore the Shunamitesson in his first effort restore the Shunamitesson all is..! Time he was safe in the Bible shutting the door behind her author of 'God Speaks 40... Who features in the Bible her dead son locked up in more than one.! Spoke faith, life and truth may we too fall at the start of 2 Kings NLT. Here we see that for some reason, the prophet Elisha during visit. 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See him, you must improve upon it so the woman believed Elisha when he told her there be... When Elisha went to the one person she knew could give her what she wanted-her son, prophet. Click an icon to log in: you are well, God bless relies on your help build a room! ; s Suffering she traveled 20 miles to Mount carmel without letting know. Us so many great examples of the man of God, dont me! Panama by Van Halen God is the source of our healing though the of. Home, and mourning would all have been natural responses to the town of Shunem Kings 4:20-26,... Despair and out of why did the shunammite woman say, it is well, Elisha traveled from city to city, kind, persuasive. To others there would be a 7-year-long famine was ) and the Shunammite woman went on with very. Greatest blessings are often, if not always, hidden under rough disguises of. Just hide him during his visit to the one person she knew that he was in the area he. 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