The Death of the Shunammite’s Son

II Kings 4:18-27
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. 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 thee, 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 wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. 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: 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: 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.

Shunammite’s son was grown and accompanied his father to the reapers. The father must have been a joyful man to take his son with him while he went to the harvest. All of a sudden the boy’s head started hurting. When a problem arises in the body, it is as quick as this boy’s. I Peter 1:24 says, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away”. Yes, our flesh is as grass and all our glory as the flower of the grass. Just as quickly as the grass withers and flower falls, so quickly does a problem arise in the man’s body and he fades away and the glory of the man falls on the ground. The boy’s father sent the boy home with a lad just so that he could lie close to his mother’s bosom and feel alright. But the boy lay on his mother’s knees till noon and then died. The boy was Elisha’s gift of gratitude to her and the woman found great delight in this wonderful gift. She had not requested for a favor like this from Elisha but he granted it to her heart’s desire. What befell the child is the sudden death and the child is no more with her. She carried the boy to the upper chamber that was built for Elisha and laid the boy on Elisha’s bed and shut the door and went out. She did not lose her heart at the death of her only son but knew that the man of God, Elisha had the power of God in him to raise the boy from death. The boy was a surprise gift to her and she was not going to take the surprise of his death.

She went to her husband and told him to send her to the man of God with a young man and a donkey. She wanted a donkey just so that she could reach the man of God as quickly as possible. She did not request her husband to join her probably because she did not want to give him the trouble of accompanying her on such a mission. She was going to Elisha with a burden on her and wants to pour out on him and seek his favor. Her husband said why she wanted to go to him when it is neither new moon nor Sabbath. It appears that the Shunammite went to the man of God to hear his preaching of the Word of God on new moon and on Sabbath. She was a woman enthusiastic about God’s Word and His work. She sought her husband’s consent to go on her mission to Elisha. She said “It shall be well”. These four words speak of her confidence and trust that her mission will be a successful one. It is not clear if her husband knew what happened to their son. Her shutting the door after she rested the child on Elisha’s bed speaks that she did not reveal to anybody and carried the burden directly to the man of God, completely trusting that her son will be restored to life again. Her husband trusts her decision and sends her with his consent.

She went on her way to Elisha who is in Mount Carmel and asked her servant to drive and slack not his riding for her, except she bids him to do so. She was eager to reach Elisha and pour out her heart before him. Yes, when we are facing a tough circumstance or a battle, let us also make haste to take our requests to God in prayer. There is a favorite song of mine in Telugu and it says let us to go the Father all alone to the top of a mountain, where we can see Him in His glory and cry out to Him. Oh, how I love this song! Prayer was one of Christ’s ministries while He was here on earth. Luke 6:12 says, “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Christ went on to a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer. Shunammite went on to Mount Carmel to meet the man of God and present her plea before him and him alone. We too should take our pleas to God in prayer and mountain signifies a lonely place where you commune with God all alone and enter into a special relationship with Him. This is a precious time between you and God; you worship Him and pray before God; He will reveal Himself to you; His voice can be heard when you are in such an intimate contact with God; no diversions and none to distract you for this is a time spent alone with God.

When Elisha saw the Shunammite from a distance, he sent out Gehazi to meet her and enquire if it is well with her, her husband and her child. Elisha’s questions speak of how concerned he was about her, her husband and her family. We too should enquire the welfare of the people that are in our life with such a heart. His questions were all encompassing; that is, it covered everyone involved in her life. We too should take time to know the members in Christ and all their families and time to time enquire of their well-being. Her answer to Gehazi was “It is well!” She preferred not to disclose the purpose of her visit to Gehazi and wanted to go straightaway to Elisha. Her answer to Gehazi suggests that she knew in her heart that all is going to be well with her once she speaks to the man of God. Let us also have the same trust in our Father that He is going to make all things well for us, His children.

When she came to Elisha she caught him by his feet. See she caught Elisha by his feet. Let us also sit at the Lord’s feet and this is our privilege to catch the Lord by His feet, His precious feet. But Gehazi came near to thrust her away because probably that was not an acceptable custom or tradition. No man can take away our privilege to be at His feet; not even His servants. We need not fear to be at His feet because that is His gift to us. Psalm 27:1 says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” He is our light and our salvation; He is the strength of our life! What a powerful verse this is. He is our light and no darkness can surround us; no power of enemy shall prevail. He is our salvation; our savior; the one who pulled us out of the miry clay and planted our feet on rock (Psalm 40:2). He is the strength of our life; our strong tower on whom we can lean on; His strength sustains us at all times; His strength is made perfect in our weakness! Here the Shunammite caught Elisha by his feet because her soul is vexed within her. The Lord God did not reveal to Elisha what befell the Shunammite and her family. God wanted the Shunammite to explain herself to Elisha; He wanted Elisha to hear from her mouth! Yes, the Lord wants us to speak to Him directly. He waits to hear us!

Let us follow the example of the Shunammite for she is a woman of God! She desired to hear His word from Elisha and chose to have a little chamber built for the man of God and was blessed immensely. She was a virtuous woman who respected her husband and sought his consent for everything she did. The heart of her husband trusted her so well. She took her plea to the man of God because she trusted that her only son can be raised from the dead. She believed in her heart for a miracle like this. She poured out her heart to Elisha by being at His feet, for she was grievously vexed within herself. We should be at our Lord’s feet and present to Him our desire for the nations to turn to Him; our desire for our own nation; our desire for our family; our desire to know Him; you can take everything to God in prayer for we have an awesome friend in Christ!

Tomorrow: The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life