The
Book of Second kings
Chapter 4b
[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.
[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; 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.
Three Days in a Home 2 Kings
4:8-37
1)
Day One “It
Fell on a Day” (8-10)
Traveling the road between Samaria and Mt Carmel was the
land of Shunem
The Man of God passed by and this “great” Shunamite woman
constrained him to eat bread
Great in substance, spiritually, hospitality,
discernment, meekness, thoughtfulness, contentedness
Rom 12:16 mind not high things but condescend to men of
low estate
The chamber they had built was Fully Furnished w/4
Basic Things
A. Bed- Rest 1/3 of life in the bed
(Born in a bed and most will die on a bed)
Belief means to rest or lean on
fully........... we must rest on
the promises
Come unto me all ye that labor and
are heavy laden and I will give you rest
B.
Table- Fellowship (Family tables
almost unused nowadays)
Communion w/ the Lord
C. Stool - Seat of honor, authority
To study and teach the word of
God
Study at the feet of mentors- Affection (May at the feet of Jesus)
D. Candlestick- Our Testimony, witness
Mt 5:15,16 Our lights
should shine- When was the last time you
told somebody about Jesus
[11] And it fell on a day,
that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
[12] And he said to Gehazi
his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood
before him.
[13] And he said unto him,
Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care;
what is to be done for thee?
wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And
she answered, I dwell among
mine own people.
[14] And he said, What then
is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and
her husband is old.
[15] And he said, Call her.
And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
[16] And he said, About this
season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said,
Nay, my lord, thou man of
God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
[17] And the woman
conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her,
according to
the time of life.
2)
Day Two “It Fell on a Day” (11-17)
Elisha asked his servant Gehazi to
call the Shunamite woman in order to express gratitude
But the woman was content (v13) Pr
15:16
Gehazi recommends that she is
without child and her husband is old..........there was no heir
When the woman arrived Elisha told
her that next year she would have a child of her own
The woman surely thought not to get
her hopes up.
But she did conceive and she had a
child just as Elisha had said
[18] And when the child was
grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
3)
Day Three “It fell on a day” (18-37)
A.
Reality to Face
1. Sovereignly given (18)
All life comes from God.
This home had everything but a child.
God is supreme in
conception and birth (Ps 127:3- the fruit of the womb is his (Gods) reward”
God affords the child to
live and grow
[19] And he said unto his
father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
[20] And when he had taken
him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then
died.
2. Spiritually Dead (19,20)
In the harvest field w/ his father, tragedy
strikes. The child cries out “my head,
my head”
The father has the child
taken to his mother and he laid in her lap till noon when he died
“Dead in trespasses and sins” Eph 2:1 They need to be saved Mt
18:14
She had a dead child on
her hands. Beyond parental control & guidance
Done all she could for
the child and yet he is dead. (drinking, drugs, no desire for things of God)
A work of grace was never completed in their
souls
[21] And she went up, and
laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went
out.
3. Supernaturally Raised (21)
She could not give the
boy life, but God could..........Her Faith is in the Lord (GREAT FAITH!)
She had faith that her
son would be raised to life (She laid him in the prophets chamber)
She was not preparing for a funeral but she
was preparing for a resurrection Ps
39:1,2
[22] And she called unto her
husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of
the asses, that I may run to
the man of God, and come again.
[23] And he said, Wherefore
wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she
said, It shall be well.
[24] Then she saddled an
ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for
me,
except I bid thee.
B.
Resolve of Faith
1. Consent (22-24)
The woman request of her
husband that she see the man of God (she didn’t say the boy had died)
The husband objected at first, then upon
consideration, consents
[25] So she went and came
unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of
God saw her afar off, that
he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:
[26] Run now, I pray thee,
to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy
husband?
is it well with the child?
And she answered, It is well.
2. Concern (25,26)
Elisha sent Gehazi to ask “Is it well?” To
which she responds “it is well”
[27] And when she came to
the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near
to thrust her away. And the
man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the
LORD hath hid it from me,
and hath not told me.
3. Compassion (27)
The woman came and caught Elisha by the feet
and Gehazi came to thrust her away
Elisha stopped him and
heard the woman out
Elisha sent Gehazi with the rod of authority
[28] Then she said, Did I
desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
[29] Then he said to Gehazi,
Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou
meet any man, salute him
not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the
face of the child.
[30] And the mother of the
child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
And he arose, and followed
her.
[31] And Gehazi passed on
before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was
neither voice, nor hearing.
Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not
awaked.
[32] And when Elisha was
come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
[33] He went in therefore,
and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.
[34] 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.
[35] Then he returned, and
walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him:
and the child sneezed seven
times, and the child opened his eyes.
[36] And he called Gehazi,
and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in
unto him, he said, Take up
thy son.
[37] Then she went in, and
fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and
went
out.
4. Commitment
(28-37)
The woman proposes her
faith and knew that the Promises of God cannot fail
Gehazi laid the staff
upon the face of the child and nothing happened and he gave up
Elisha entered the house
and saw the child upon the bed
He began to
call unto the Lord - Prayer(33)
He took the
burden upon himself -Passion (34)
He would not
give up - Persistence (35)
The child was given life
anew by the Lord and the woman gave thanks and took her son
Raise them in the right house, take
them to the right church, but without the Spirit of God they are deadThe Unfailing
Provisions of God 2 Kings
4:38-44
1) Dearth in
the Land (Vs 38)
Famine in the
land for bread - Israel is living in idolatry and God promised famine Dt 28:15,
23,24
Elisha has
come to Gilgal, where there was a school for the sons of the prophets where was a
famine
Todays Famine
is not for preaching but for hearing Amos 8:11- Is the world hungry?
Fellowship - Make preparations to set a supper
2) Deception (Vs 39)
One man
(preacher) went out into the field to gather herbs
His
intentions were good
He found a
wild vine and gathered wild gourds from it
Wild
cucumber, that if enough is taken in it could kill a person (colic, nerves
affected)
Harmless in
appearance- yet they were pleasant to the eye
Safe in
appearance thus He gathered a lap full
He shred the
gourds into the pottage and no one knew what he put in
Maybe someone
saw him, but thought nothing of it ...What you don’t know can kill you
3) Death in
the Pot (Vs 40)
All men began
to eat of the pottage
They cried
out “O
thou
man of God, there is death in the pot”
Bad taste
& Sour stomach
1 ingredient, harmless in appearance, damaged the whole
pot *a little
leaven leaveneth the whole
1 error, 1
fatal quality, 1 sad mistake, led to the sickness of many
“There is a
way that
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” Pr14:12
The church
has death in the pot and has No fellowship, love, joy, Power, peace of God
Wild vine of
compromise- Poisonous Ideas into the Pot (If it feels good do it)
Bible alterations,
worldly music,impurity-- gambling, porn, drugs, cussing (Pr
23:29-Hab2:15alcohol)
False
Doctrines Allowing baptism for salvation
Allowing
women as deacons, even in ministry (Must be the husband of one wife)
Allowing
abortion - Hitler killed
6 million Jews yet America has murdered 46 million babies
Allowing
Homosexual Gay Marriage Rom 1:27
Prayer out of
our schools
4)
Deliverance (Vs 41)
A. Effort
demanded
The man of
God said “bring meal”
Meal is
representative of Jesus as “He is the bread of life”
Remember The
meal barrel that wasted not 1K 17:14 - It also represents the Word of God
The man of
God cast the meal into the pot
The Wholesome put in, in spite of
the present poison
Putting the Teaching of Gods Word
into
the poisoned pottage
B. Faith to
Partake of it
Pour out for
the people to eat and there was no harm in the pot
We must feed
on Gods Word
There is no
neutral position, eat or starve as there is a dearth in the land
5) Dedication (Vs 42)
An anonymous man
from Baalshalisha brought an offering, a gift to the man of God
1 Sam 9:4 the land was
once named Shalisha - meaning “He presides over thee”
During
Jezebels time it was renamed adding “Baal” and thus the land was a land of
idolatry
He brought “the bread of
the firstfruits”- Lev 23:20,
Num 18:13, Dt 18:4,5 & Ex 23:19
Since
religion in N. Kingdom of Israel was apostate, the man brought this gift to the
man of God
This gift was
given in a famine and was the first of the harvest (Precious Offering)
This gift was
given as an Act of
Worship
-
He brought “20 barley
loaves and full ears of corn”-
This gift was
given out of a loving heart Prov 3:9,10
& Mt 6:33
seek ye first
the kingdom of God
This gift was
sent by the Providence of God-
It was
unexpected & unsolicited- God meets needs Sovereignly (there was a famine)
Now they have
bread & corn to go along w/ pottage
This gift
represents Jesus “the living bread” and “He is the
firstfruits”
Elisha
demands this gift to be given unto the people that they may eat
Elisha forgot
about himself as he was an unselfish man and is going to give back and share
6) Doubt (Vs 43)
Elisha’s
servant (probably Gehazi who was little
concerned for that womans dead son) doubts this
gift to be enough
Gehazi
questions & complains “What,
can these 20 loaves and ears of corn feed 100 men?”
Gehazi
believes that there is not enough, though he has seen Gods power and authority
thru Elisha
It was NOT the servants duty to comment but to OBEY!
In a famine,
God provides food and Gehazi says “But, it is not enough”
Today’s
modern church says “how can you set old fashioned preaching before people?”
“You need to
be more trendy, less conservative and do away w/ old paths and old timey ways”
Elisha says
again “Give it to the people that they
may eat” Ps 104:15
“For thus
saith the Lord they shall eat and shall leave thereof”
God promises
not only to provide but to go beyond our need
Eph 3:20
7)
Demonstration (Vs 44)
The servant
set the gift
before the 100 men and they did eat. “Taste and see
that the Lord is good”Ps 34:8
They ate
their fill and had leftovers just as the Lord had said
They could not consume it all,
even in the time of their need-The bread of God is unfailing
bread
This Looks
ahead to Jesus who fed 5000 men beside women and children w/ 5 loaves & 2
fishes Mt14:14-21