2 Kings 4 (Part 3) Bible Study (Elisha Raises the Shunammite's Son) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's come together the second Kings Chapter 4.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

This is our third installment in this chapter and it will not be

our last. As you know, it's a it's a

lengthy chapter and we are no rush to try to advance without

meditating on everything that it has to offer.

So turn with me to 1st Kings Chapter 418.

But at the same time, allow me to set the stage for this study

from another part of your Bible and my Bible.

In Hebrews Chapter 11, you and I are provided a concise

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

definition of faith and along with it an extensive catalogue.

Of what faith looks like and how the Holy Spirit does it in

Hebrews 11 is that he lists for us notable figures and

characters and real people from the Scriptures who demonstrate

in their respective ways what trust in God looks like.

So Hebrews 11 is commonly known as the Hall of Faith right now,

if you read that chapter very carefully, what you'll notice is

that there are a total of 16 names explicitly provided, 16

names. And we see there that out of all

those names, there are 14 men mentioned and two women.

Does anybody know the name of the two women that are mentioned

in Hebrews Chapter 11? You can say it if you know it,

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Rahab. And who's the other one?

Very good. Now here's what's more

interesting. Seven of those men and one of

those women, right? So we have 16.

So exactly half seven and one are located in the book of

Genesis alone. Now we don't have time to get

into the possible reasons for that, but I just think it's an

interesting observation as you advance in Hebrews chapter Other

than what you'll notice is that the author, inspired by the

Spirit, no longer lists names, but instead describes different

exploits of faith in a more general manner.

And I know I told you to turn to 2nd Kings 44 already, but I want

you to see if you would like Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 35 as

Hebrews 11:35

he is coming to the end of his teaching on faith, practical

faith, lived out faith, fleshed out faith.

Notice what he says in Hebrews 1135.

Woman received back their dead by resurrection.

Now pause there. The two most notable instances

of women receiving back their loved ones from the dead are

found in our study of First and 2nd Kings.

The first one is the widow from Zarephath.

Remember when Elijah raised her son from the dead?

And the second will be the woman from Shunam.

We are ready to study. Elijah will help raise from the

dead. Now the woman from Zarephath,

was she a Jew or a Gentile? She was a Gentile.

And the woman from Shunam, she was what she was a Jew.

Showing us that faith is meant and is available to be exercised

by anybody. And with that, no matter who you

are, God will honor you for your faith.

But while we're here, I want us to make mention of something

else, because the point of our study in Second Kings 4 will be

to see the power of faith and also the wisdom of God in our

trials. But while we're here, notice how

this verse continues. Hebrews 1135 women received back

their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured.

Refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a

better life. And then when you read verse 36

and verse 37, you discover that he discusses suffering, mocking,

flogging, imprisonment, stoning, being destitute, afflicted, and

mistreated in connection to the faithful.

What is he getting at here? Why is he mentioning these

things in light of faith? To teach us and to clarify.

That the rewards of faith and faithfulness do not always

promise relief or restoration in the way that we hope.

There are times when faith will not bring about deliverance from

your problems, but instead will grant you the joy, the courage,

the endurance in the midst of them, as well as a reward in the

life to come. So the Holy Spirit is being very

realistic and is trying to teach us a balanced view of faith.

You know, a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a teaching while

getting ready for one of our services.

Sometimes if I have enough time and not rushing too much, I

listen to music or listen to sometimes whatever is being

preached on my phone. And I stumbled upon a teaching

of a young prosperity preacher, young guy.

I guess he's up and coming. I'm not too sure, but he he got

my attention because he was teaching at a Hebrews Chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

and he started from verse one and he was reading down this

chapter and I decided to stick around because I was

anticipating. And looking forward to how he

was going to explain verse 35, verse 36, and verse 37 to talk

about the very things that I mentioned to you.

What is he going to say? Because as you know, prosperity

preachers love to teach on faith as the means, as our ability to

unlock God's blessings at will or however you wish and in a way

that can deliver you from absolutely any kind of

affliction or problem. And so as he was reading, I was

thinking, OK, what is he going to say here?

Now he comes to verse 303132, pauses here and there to

explain, and then he comes to verse 35.

What do you think? He did very quickly says let's

skip this part and he leftover all these truths that the Holy

Spirit wants to instruct the people of God concerning what

faith, real faith looks like. Let this be a reminder that.

When you choose to skip parts of the Bible, that's how you get

wonky theology. I'm surprised the people in that

place didn't stand up and protest at the same time.

I'm not surprised because some people don't mind skipping parts

of the Bible. But we are not among those who

do that, do we? We honor all that God has to

say, and that's why we're studying the Bible the way we

study it, week after week. So now we're we're coming to

this text in Second Kings chapter 4 to observe a woman

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

with incredible faith and to see what that faith did.

For her in this life, faith, yes, can also do things today,

tomorrow within our world. So then you have this opposite

understanding of faith where it's just don't expect anything.

Don't pray for anything. Don't don't challenge your

unbelief. Just just kind of dismiss it and

go with the flow. And that's also wrong.

So we're going to see a woman who had faith and that faith did

something for her. And I want you to see that God

expects us to also trust in Him and to seek.

Him when we need him, let's read beginning at verse 18 of Second

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

Kings chapter 4. We're going to be ending in

verse 37. So we're not going to read this

all in one shot. We're going to take our time by

reading this verse by verse. When the child had grown, he

went out one day to his father among the reapers.

And he said to his father, Oh my head, my head.

The father said to his servant, carry him to his mother.

And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the

child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.

We remember how this Shunammite was rewarded with a child for

her support for this man of God known as Elijah.

Now between verse 17, when we're told that the woman can see

them, Boris son, and verse 18, a few years had passed.

We're not told how many years passed.

We're not told how old this boy was at this point, but evidently

he was old enough to do what? To walk to the fields

independently? To talk.

But young enough. Still to be taken, carried and

placed in the lap of his mother. So he he's a few years old here.

And tragically, while there was so much ahead for this child and

this family, we learned that he suddenly dies.

And there are so many things that we can say about these

verses, but I want us to focus primarily on the timing of this

trial. This is a catastrophe.

This is this is horrible. This is horrific.

But notice when it happened. Read again here in verse 18, the

last three words, the child had grown, right?

He went out one day to his father among the reapers.

What does that tell you about the timing of this event?

Harvest time. This is during harvest season,

and harvest season was a busy season.

It was a hectic time. Sowing and planting was a

demanding thing, but harvesting was equally demanding.

You want to make sure that there was no waste.

You want to make sure that you gathered in all that you worked

hard for. And so there was a special

emphasis here in terms of gathering in the servants,

hiring new people. Just like holidays in our

context where the stores are busier, the malls are more

filled, there are there people hiring just for the season and

for the rush and the business. This is what we are seeing here.

This is a busy, hectic time. Which makes this trial a little

bit more inconvenient. But harvest season also defines

in the Scripture a time of joy, right?

This is the in gathering, this is the product, this is the

fruitfulness. And so Scripture often connects

harvest season with jubilance. This is a time where the people

of God would gather, they would feast, they would fellowship in

communal reflection on the faithfulness of God and his

provision throughout that year. Moreover, there are feast that

demand that there would be first fruits and different

celebrations connected to your produce and you're in gathering

that would be a means of worship to the Lord.

And so you have this combination of the hustle of harvest season,

also the anticipation of joy being at its peak, and it's

there. And then this child dies.

Right here. We're learning something about

affliction, something about tribulation, something about

trials. They tend not to honor your

schedule, your plans, your hopes, your desires, your.

Dreams. They have a tendency of barging

in unannounced without warning. And we see here that this

child's illness and eventual death took place at a time that

was unpleasant. Now, we can all admit in general

that there is no test of our faith that is a pleasurable

thing. It's not a exciting thing that

we look forward to. But we can also say that there

are times when trials come that are especially disruptive.

And God's Word seeks to teach us that there can be devastating

interruptions in our lives. Not to scare you, but to prepare

you. And the best way to be prepared

for such things as not to be pessimistic or cynical, you have

people who live like that. You have people who live day by

day and just bracing themselves for impact.

They don't know how it's going to happen.

They don't know where it's going to happen, and it sucks the life

out of them. That's not how God wants you to

live. Underlying anxiety that that's

not how He designed you to operate.

The best way to be prepared even for startling trials is to abide

in Jesus Christ day by day so that you can draw from Him the

source of strength and wisdom that you need every single day,

day by day, even for uninvited surprises.

See, trials, even trials of this kind don't have to sabotage your

faith, don't have to vandalize your witness.

It doesn't have to happen. And the tsunami is a prime

example of that. So let's see what happens,

right? The boy says, Oh my head, my

head. I mean, it's harvest season, so

it's extra hot this time of the year.

And she carries him, holds him, And we don't know how long she

was doing that for before he gave his last breath.

Verse 21 And she went up and laid on him the bed, on the bed

of the man of God, and shut the door behind him and went out.

And she called to her husband and said, Send me one of the

servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man

of God and come back again. And he said, why will you go to

him today? It is neither new moon nor

Sabbath. She said all is well.

You know what stands out to me about this woman?

Her composure. Her composure is convicting.

Think about it. Imagine mothers in this house.

God forbid, but just imagine holding a child a few years old

and that child dying in your arms.

What do you do? How do you react?

Here's what this woman does. She quietly carries the same

child, goes upstairs, puts him in the guest room, closes the

door, goes to her husband, says I need the keys to the car.

I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, what's the

explanation? And I believe the best 1 is that

this woman who was not just wealthy materially, but rich in

faith, understood that this child was miraculously provided

by God. She never lost sight of the

origins of this story. She understood that God was the

one who sovereignly granted this gift, and she believes still

that God did not lose control of His sovereignty.

And so she's able to remain sane and stable.

You see, knowing that God was the one behind the birth of this

child meant that he was in control of the destiny of this

child. And acknowledging God's control

from the start, listen, will help you not lose control at any

time at any point. Now that is not to say that she

did not experience grief. I mean, verse 27 would say

otherwise. Look at verse 27.

We didn't read it yet, but this is when she finally arrives to

the man of God. And notice what he says in verse

27. The latter portion it says leave

her alone for she is in bitter distress.

So faith doesn't delete your emotions.

Possessing faith doesn't make you emotionless.

What it does though, is enable you to remain grounded.

So I just praise God for the songs that we sang today, so

much about being anchored in Christ, Christ being our anchor,

hope, peace, joy as a result of our trust.

Listen, knowing God's character and trusting in His character,

what He reveals about Himself is your anchor, is your anchor.

And such faith, listen it promise us to be never carried

away in the midst of the storm. You'll be in the.

Faith doesn't promise you no storms, it just promise you to

remain steadfast in the storm. And that's exactly what this

woman demonstrates. And unfortunately, many cannot

interpret the world that this woman how this woman does

because of their limited understanding of who God is.

Now, I mentioned last time that we studied last week.

In connection to this woman's faith, her husband in contrast

that that maybe she had and she possessed greater spiritual

insight than her spouse. And I believe what we see here

with this interaction confirms that conclusion.

Why do I say that? Because notice she takes the

child, goes into Elijah's room, closes the door and asks for a

servant and a vehicle to get to Elijah.

What does she leave out? She didn't tell her husband that

the child died. She doesn't.

Why do you think she didn't? I mean, you can only speculate.

Here's what I believe. That the husband probably

wouldn't see it the way she saw it.

And a priority to this husband during harvest season wouldn't

be go and find Elijah. But let's plan for the funeral

so she knows her husband very well.

And she understands that there is a man not too far from here

who has received a mantle from another man named Elijah, who

was used by God to raise the son of another woman.

And so she wants to take advantage of this.

And she's not going to accept this immediately.

She's going to do all that she can to seek for an intervention

before anything else. And I think here that this woman

shows us once again some of that you and I know very well that

the godly are not exempt from such things.

She understood that she was a he was a unique prophet.

And though we can celebrate her faith, we should also admire for

a character because she doesn't rail against her husband.

She doesn't disrespect. And this is what we saw last

week as well, when she asked for his permission and asked to

partner with him to build this extended room for Elisha.

And we see the same consistent care and honor for her spouse

despite his slender spirituality.

But before we move on, don't you appreciate something that the

husband acknowledges about her? Look at verse 23.

And he said, why will you go to him today?

It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.

So that indicates to me that this woman frequently visited

Elijah and that during certain holy days, Elijah must have had

meetings where he preached and he taught the word of God and

she attended those meetings because it wasn't strange for

her to want to go see Elijah. It was strange for the husband

that she was trying to go to church when it wasn't Wednesday,

Friday or Sunday, say, hey, there's no service today.

Why are you going? I just that warmed my heart.

Why did it warm my heart? Because I like to see that she

was a part of a remnant that went to these meetings in a day

of great apostasy in Israel when society was collapsing and

falling apart. She was among those that enjoyed

going to a man of God, among the people of God and receiving from

God. Not a precious little insight,

that just blessed. Me.

Why are you going? And here's her answer.

All is well. All is well.

Really. How is all?

Well, you know what? The Hebrew word, it's one word.

Shalom, Peace. All is well.

How can you say all that's a contradiction to your

circumstances. Yeah, but when you understand

God's character, then you can say something like this.

And it's not the only time she's going to say it.

All is well. Verse 24.

Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, urge

the animal on. Do not slacken the pace for me

unless I tell you. So she set out and came to the

man of God at Mount Carmel. She's from Shunam.

She wants to go to Mount Carmel. Elisha frequently visited Mount

Carmel. That's what the Scripture seemed

to hint, the journey between Shunam and Mount Carmel, perhaps

five hours, five hours during harvest season.

It's hot, but she's desperate, so she makes her way and notice

what happens. Verse 25, when the man of God

saw her coming, he said to Gehazi, his servant.

Look, there is the Shunammite. Ron at once to meet her and say

to her is all well with you, is all well with your husband, is

all well with the child, and she answered, all is well.

So even the sight of the sunnamite was strange to Elijah

because, you know, she usually comes to Friday night Bible

study and she usually comes to Sunday service.

But why is she coming today? Why is she making her way to the

office now? Something must be wrong.

And so she he dispatches Gehazi. Gehazi gets her Is everything

OK? Is everything OK with your

husband? Is everything OK with your son?

And she answers no differently than she did with her husband.

All is well, Shalom. Now, why did she do this with

the Gehazi? It couldn't be that she didn't

want to be detained. She didn't have to stop there

and explain to Gehazi. Time was of the essence she

needed to get to the man of God who was used by God to bring her

this child to begin with. Or, or could it be that this

perceptive, discerning woman, she felt something about Gehazi

and she rather deal with Elijah directly.

Remember, we sort of commended Gehazi for his observation of

the woman's need, helping Elijah to provide her a reward for her

hospitality. But Ghazi from this point on

will not, will not demonstrate the greatest characters traits.

And I just wonder, I wonder if this Sunnah might picked up on

some things about Ghazi. I mean we see it in the very

next verse. Look at verse 27.

And when she came to the mountain, to the man of God, she

caught hold of his feet and Gehazi came to push her away.

That's not how you treat a woman in distress.

While you might try to justify it or you know, explain it on in

defense of Gehazi, but notice what happens.

He's rebuked for it. Look at the rest of verse 27.

But the man of God said, leave her alone.

Leave her alone for she is in bitter distress.

And the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.

So let me say a few things here. The first thing I want to

mention in the verses that we just read is that Elijah here

once again receives this rare title Man of God and it and it

appears with great. Intention No other person named

person in all the Bible is the title man of God attributed to

then Elijah. And notice where it is mentioned

again, it is brought in the context of His compassion.

So look at the the the middle of verse 25 when the man of God saw

her coming, he said to Gazi's servant, look, there's a should

of mine run at once, not walk, run, run at once and ask her

these questions. Now, do you recall how he

responded when the widow earlier in the same chapter approached

them, one of the one of the woman who was married to son of

the prophet with her issue with her sons.

Do you remember how he responded?

Look back at verse 2 of the same chapter.

And Elijah said to her, what shall I do for you?

Tell me, what have you in the house?

And she said, your servant has nothing in the house except a

jar of oil. So here's what I learned.

Whether it was a widow or a wealthy woman, Elijah

demonstrated the same earnestness and serving and

alleviating their suffering. Listen, Elijah's compassion and

his ministry did not discriminate.

No matter who the Lord put before him, He determined to

show the love of his God and our God, Jesus Christ.

So he wasn't picky and choosy whether it was a widow, whether

it was a a wealthy woman, whether it was two sons or one

son. How may I demonstrate Christ's

compassion toward you? That's a man of God.

And so Gehazi. As he sent out as an extension

of this man's love comes back and he demonstrates a different

attitude. What does he do?

She comes and he pushes her away.

What? How do you?

Even explain this again. I wonder if this woman picked up

on something about Gilhazi. And here's the lesson for you

and I right, because she doesn't deal with Gehazi.

Listen to this. I'm speaking, I hope, to a room

fill the people who want to serve God most effectively.

Then listen to this insight. She doesn't want to deal with

Gehazi. She wants to deal directly with

Elijah. And I would say here that we

have an indication that if you are someone like Gehazi,

insensitive, lacking tenderness and patience for others.

You will severely hinder your ministry.

Can I say it another word? If you're like this, people

won't reach out to you and people won't want to receive

from you. I'm reminded no matter what your

ministry is, by the way. I'm not just talking about

pastors here, I'm talking about anybody serving in any capacity

because if you're really serving God, you're going to be serving

people. I'm reminded of the words of the

Apostle Paul and his introduction to the Philippians

in his letter to those believers.

And he says something in verse seven, he says.

I have the. Right to feel this way about

you, for I have you in my heart. Wow.

The beginning of his letter, he wants to remind these believers

in Philippi, you live here. What a wonderful model for

ministry. If you want to be received, if

you want to be effective, if you want no shortage of serving

people, let them know that you love them.

Let them be convinced that you care about them.

Let them perceive that you actually want to see them

blessed. And if you have that kind of

heart for people, listen. You'll even have license to

speak stern words. A person who truly loves other

people can rebuke, at times reprimand and those people

because they know that you love them or receive from you.

Still, I have you in my heart. Ask God to help you really love

people, and it will revolutionize your ministry.

Gehazi was not such a person based on how he's treating this

woman here. Elisha on the other hand, you

can see it in his words, You can see it in his, in his urgency.

So what happens? He rebukes him.

Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress.

Notice this part. I can't move on without

acknowledging this. And this is also for those who

want to serve the Lord. For the Lord has hidden it from

me and has not told me. I find it relieving that Elijah

admitted this. Don't you?

I mean, this is one of the most reputable prophets in all of

redemptive history. And he confesses, Hey, look, I

don't understand what's going on here.

God tends to speak to me beforehand, but here this is

veiled to me. I I don't understand what's

happening. And he actually mentions that

like, this is humility, doesn't pretend so.

Lesson #1 You don't always have to have answers to people's

problems. And you can sometimes say, I

don't know. Especially when you try to help

somebody figure out God's ways in their lives.

Be very careful making conclusions on behalf of God.

Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's obvious.

And yes, you can remind people at the right time of God's

characters, His wisdom, his ways.

But you don't have to give decisive answers all the time.

You don't need to do that. Moreover, I'm reminded here that

even with God's greatest men, a broader lesson that with all of

his servants, He from time and oftentimes will lead us while

we're in the dark. The fact that Elijah didn't have

insight here doesn't mean that God abandoned the situation.

It just means that Elijah also is going to be stretched in his

faith. This story is about the

Shunammites faith surely, but it's also about Elijah growing

in his faith as well. And if you and I are going to

grow in our faith, that means we're not going to get answers

all the time. So to want to know every step,

every chapter, every turn around ahead that expels the

possibility of your faith being exercised.

One of my favorite verses concerning this truth is Isaiah

Isaiah 50:10

50 verse 10. Hey, I would say memorize this

verse because he says this. Who?

Among you fears the Lord, and obeys the voice of his servant.

So pause there. He is addressing those who fear

the Lord and who obey the. Voice of the Messiah.

So right there, let's just pause and ask, Is that me?

Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His servant?

I hope every hand here can say me.

I do. OK, Good.

Once you have figured that out and you've acknowledged that,

get ready for the next part. Let him who walks in darkness

and has no light trust in the name.

Of the Lord and rely on his God. What kind of darkness is he

talking about here? Is he talking about sinful

darkness? Is he talking about not having

the light of truth? No, he just finished qualifying

that this is for those who fear the Lord and obey the voice of a

servant. He says, OK, if you're that kind

of a person, it's possible for you in this life to seem like

you're walking in the dark, where you have no sense of

direction, where you have no clarity on a matter, where you

don't know what to do now, where you don't know where to go then.

If, that is, you realize you're not exempt from that experience,

but you are commanded to trust in the name of the Lord and rely

on your God. Even a prophet of God who in a

unique can I use this word dispensation.

Even a unique man of God in a unique period of time was what

was at one point let in the dark where God turned off the light.

And you and me, we pull our hair and we question our faith.

And we're far from being a prophet when God seems to not

give us answers for the next step.

What are you supposed to do? Just trust.

Just trust, worship while you wait.

Serve in the capacity that He's granted you while you wait and

He will lead you through. So Elijah here acknowledges this

and he goes, OK, I'm not sure because I, I wasn't prepared for

this, but let's see what the Lord has in store.

And so he does what he can to try to solve this issue with the

wisdom that he. Possessed so notice what happens

in verse 28. Then she said did I ask my Lord

for a son Did I not say do not deceive me?

You don't blame her for asking those questions, right?

So here you have a barren woman who didn't ask for this when she

met Elijah. She just served out of the

abundance of her heart and Elijah want to do her a favor.

And finally, when there was something that she truly

desired, when that was unfolded, she said, please don't lie to

me. This is really it is really

true. I can't I can't even believe it.

And he goes, it's going to happen and it happened.

So God miraculously provides this child only for a few years

later. Take that child away.

So. Perhaps at this point in the

study, you're going why, and you might.

Have somewhere skeptics or critics even accused God of

being sadistic, which means to take pleasure in somebody else's

pain? The guy just.

Playing games here, OK, here's a child.

OK, now I'm going to take the child away.

She has questions. Sometimes we have questions,

especially in our trials, especially trials of this

degree. Does God have answers?

You better believe it. Does He sometimes show you the

reason for it before you meet him face to face?

Yeah. And actually, with the Shunami,

we actually have at least one reason why God did this.

But you're going to have to stay awake until the end of the Bible

study to know it. So what happens?

He realizes something bad happened.

And so in verse 29, he said to Gehazi, tie up your garment and

take my staff in your hand and go.

If you meet anyone, do not greet him.

And if anyone greets you, do not reply and lay my staff on the

face of the child. And the mother of the child

said, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not

leave you. In other words, she heard him

and strike Gehazi to go and deal with the problem.

She goes, I'm here for you, so I'm not leaving.

You and I believe the reason why Elijah does this is because

perhaps Ghazi was younger he can get there more speedily so he

sends them off as a signal both to to her that this is me making

an urgent appeal and attempt at this problem.

So look what happens verse 31 Ghazi went on ahead and laid the

staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or.

Sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet

him and told them the child has not awakened.

It didn't work. Why didn't it work?

You have some who are inclined to actually blame Elijah for

this and they would say because Elijah is doing this out of

impulse, he doesn't have divine instruction or approval for this

plan. He just says.

OK, Ghazi take my staff, which is a symbol of authority and go

late on his face and and hopefully something will happen.

I'm not inclined to believe that.

And the reason for that is because Ghazi does go.

It's a failed attempt. He returns and then Elijah

arrives on the scene of what happens.

The boy comes to life. If there is anybody to blame in

this part of the story, if there was anybody to blame, it would

be Ghazi. It'd be Ghazi.

I think Ghazi here in this failed attempt is preparing us

for something that we're going to discover in Second Kings

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

Chapter 5, that what externally he served, internally he was

rotten. He was in fact going to be

disqualified permanently from ministry.

And that didn't just suddenly happened.

There was something in his heart that was very, very much out of

line with God's heart. And I think at this point of the

story, Gehazi represents something.

Gehazi represents ministers who they they might work for godly

ministries. They might even be associated

with godly men. They might even occupy a

spiritual office or position, but they are void of the power

of God. He's a sobering illustration

that it is possible to approach ministry without God's backing.

I'm not interested in ministry if I don't have God's backing.

And I say that because it's no accident that immediately after

Gehazi fails to accomplish something, we're told that

Elijah is receiving and grants success to the matter.

Notice what happens verse 32. When Elijah came into the house,

he saw the child lying dead on his bed.

So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and

prayed to the Lord. So he closes the door and he

gets before the Lord, and he prays.

He prays and I think there's something there.

Yes, this is a unique instance, but there's there's themes,

there are principles here. You cannot disconnect God's

authentic seal on your service from private prayer, from

regularly coming before the Lord and depending on him.

That is what distinguishes a powerful ministry from a

powerless 1. You know, it's interesting how

Jewish rabbis interpret the scriptures should be very

careful to rely on Christ denying Jewish interpretations

of the scriptures. Some some some how strange ideas

of of what takes place here. And sometimes they read too much

into the text and we have to be careful of doing the same.

We see here that when Gehazi arrives on the scene, he was

specifically told. Do not greet anybody.

Don't stop at any place. Go directly to that room.

Lay that snap on his face. And see what happens and.

And some people say well yeah, but but Gehazi must have stopped

and talked to some people and they go beyond that.

They say Gehazi on his way was telling people I'm not about to

raise somebody from the dead. You want to come and see it.

And he gets to the room and notice that it's not told in the

text that he closed the door and he tried to make a public

spectacle of it and that's why God didn't honor.

That's reading too much into the text.

I believe more than anything else, if you contrast Gehazi

and. Elijah Gehazi was missing a true

fear of God, a true relationship with God, whereas Elijah

possessed it. Do you realize that in, in this

text, twice we read all is well, all is well.

It's not the last time you see that phrase in connection to the

story, at least in connection to these men who are involved in

the story. Go to 2nd Kings chapter 5 very

quickly. This is after another miracle

will take place, and we're going to unpack that in greater detail

in the weeks to come. Naman, remember Naman, the

commander of the army of the king of Syria, He's he.

He has leprosy. He goes to Elijah to receive

healing. He is granted that healing.

And he wants to pay him, Naman wants to reward him, and we're

going to study in a few weeks. Why Elijah refused to receive

payment. But what happens?

Gehazi overhears this. And he overhears that he denied

this and he thought it was foolish.

So let me just read this. We read here in verse 20,

Gehazi, the servant of Elijah, the man of God, said, see my

master has spared this name in the Syrian, and not accepting

from his hand what he brought, as the Lord lives, I will run

after him and get something from him.

So Gehazi followed Naman and when Naman saw someone running

after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said is

all well. How does he answer in verse 22?

And he said, all is well. My master has sent me to say,

there have just now come to me from the Hill Country of Ephraim

two young men of the sons of the prophets.

Please give me a talent of silver and two changes of

clothing. And Naman said Be pleased to

accept 2 talents and he urged them and he tied up the two

talents of silver and two bags with two changes of clothing and

laid them on two of his servants and they carried them before.

Ghazi is all well. Ghazi, all is well.

No, all is not well. Actually, you know, there are

many people today who believe all is well when all is not well

because they had the cancer of greed eating them up because

they're bound and lust, because they're riddled with pride,

because they have sued their conscience by convincing

themselves that there is no God and there is no accountability

and there's no eternity. And they think all is well.

Have you ever talked to somebody who's outside of Christ and they

say all is well? I don't need your Jesus.

I don't need your gossip. Your, your, your gospel.

I, this is a reflection of Ghazi is all well, all is well.

And just a few short verses. He was inexperienced.

Judgement, divine judgement. I don't know how long Gahazi

believed all was well, but when we come back to 2nd Kings

chapter 4, he should have picked up on some clues.

A rebuke from his teacher, something not happening when he

was instructed by a prophet. He delayed.

But when Elijah comes on the scene, he prays.

He seeks God. And what what do we read

happens? Verse 34.

Then he went up and laid on lay on the child, putting his mouth

on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his

hands. And as he stretched himself upon

him, the flesh of the child became warm.

Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the

house, and went up and stretched himself upon him.

The child sneezed 7 times and the child opened his eyes.

Elijah shows us the true way of a truly successful ministry.

No prayer, no power. Little prayer, little power,

much prayer. Much power, a seasoned prophet

who never forgot the true success.

The true secret? Pray and when something doesn't

work, pray and when you think it's going to work, pray and

when the answer doesn't come right away.

Just like this child, his body first became warm.

He didn't instantly get up and start sneezing.

Pray, pray, pray. He prays.

The child sneezes 7 times. It's very difficult to find a

reason for why the evidence of his life returning to him came

about in this fashion. Verse 36 Then he summoned Gehazi

and said, call this Shunamite. So he called her and when she

came to him, he said, pick up your son.

She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground.

Then she picked up her son and went out.

And you and I might think this is the last that we'll see and

hear of the Shunamite woman, and we would be wrong.

She asked a question earlier, does she not?

Did I ask for a son? Did I not say do not deceive me?

She was trying to figure this whole thing out herself.

I don't get, I didn't look for this, I didn't demand this.

I didn't really fast for at least there's no evidence of it

in the scripture. It was granted to me.

And just when I was enjoying it, you took him from me, and now

you bring it back to me. She was thankful that I'm sure.

Is there any, any threat, any kind of clue of how we make

sense of this story? And I believe there.

Is just like how sometimes it might take time in your life to

discover how God's wisdom works in our trials.

Go to 2nd Kings chapter 8. I'm scared to explain this too

too much because we're going to come to it eventually if God

wills, but let me just give you some kind of insight that will

make this Bible studies conclusion.

A bit more. Clear a famine hits the land and

up to this point Elisha still stays in touch with the shunami.

Look at verse two of Second Kings 8.

So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man

of God, because Elisha says. You need to leave here.

There's going to be a seven-year famine.

You need to go. You need to go to the land of

the Philistines. So she went with her household

and sojourn in the land of the Philistines 7 years.

And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned

from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal

to the king for her house and her land.

Now the king was talking with. Gehazi, the servant of the man

of God. You ever wonder what's Gehazi

doing before the king? We're going to discover that in

the next few chapters. But Ghazi was there with the

king saying, right, what does the king say?

Tell me all the great things that Elijah had done.

He knew that this man worked for and worked with Elijah.

So he's just out of curiosity, you know, I'd like to hear some

of those glory stories. Can you explain some of the

amazing miraculous things that took place while you work with

Elijah? Verse 5, And while he was

telling the king how Elijah had restored the dead to life.

Behold, underline that pause. Behold being.

Check this out. Look at this.

Behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to

the king for her house and her land, and Gehazi said, My Lord,

O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elijah

restored to life. Is this coincidence?

Don't you dare say it is. This is not coincidence.

It starts with the letter P. This is Providence.

Right at a time when Gehazi was speaking to the king and the

king wants to hear stories about Elijah and what he had done for

the Lord. And this woman is coming back

from 7 years of exile so to speak.

And right when she walks into her appointment with the king to

restore her house and her land, Gehazi is talking about her.

And what happens? Verse 6.

And when the king asked the woman, she told them.

So the king appointed an official for her, saying restore

all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields,

from the day that she left the land until now.

Were kings generally good or wicked during this time in

Israel's history? And So what?

What was it that compelled this king to not just restore her

land, but say, you know what, Everything that you missed out

on these past seven years, I'm going to return to you and

restore to you. What was it that moved him?

The testimony of her son being raised from the dead, when this

king realized that God had such favor upon her and God moved on

her behalf in such a way and moved him to say, I'm willing to

help you, so let's put this together.

Back in Second Kings chapter 4, this woman receives the son.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

The son dies. She goes through agonizing pain.

I'm sure as a loving mother. There are no answers right away,

but down the world, realize that the God who knows your

tomorrow's prepares you today. And how did he prepare for the

years that would come where this famine would hit?

And there would be a specific ruler and he would need a

specific story to be behind her and to support her and to

restore and to take care of her and her family.

It would take this season of pain so that it would produce a

compelling story so that she would be taken care of for the

rest of her life. That's why one reason why in the

scriptures, so why was this provides us in the word of God

so that when you are trying to make sense of this chapter,

understand that God has already written every chapter.

You just haven't read it yet and you don't understand how this

masterful supernatural author will piece it all together.

So this this is just one among many stories for you to

understand. I I don't understand this.

I don't understand why this happened now.

I don't understand why God did this only for it to lead to

this. I may not understand it, but I

know a story in my Bible of a Shunammite woman who also didn't

get it until later on. And that insight, that foresight

should grant you and I the energy and the stability and the

confidence to say all is. Well, when at this time it may

be difficult to say it because the one who loves you, cares for

you, has lived out and prepared your tomorrow's, He is worthy of

our praise. Let's thank you for this Bible

study. Father, you are beyond good to

love us enough to provide us this incredible testimony so

that we can be prepared for trials that might knock the wind

out of us. And for us who may still be

trying to make sense of what's happening with our children,

with our spouses, with our ministries, with our health,

with our finances. You've provided us this story.

You've inscribed it and Holy Writ to remind us that we can

say all is well because you have a reason and more than one

reason for why you're allowing what we are enduring.

And so, Lord, even as we sing this song in light of these

Scripture truths, may you receive the honor and the glory.

May you infuse us with a real faith, a stronger faith that

would anchor us as we walk out of these doors tonight and live

out day by day, whatever you have prepared for us.

We give you thanks for what you've done, what you will do,

and we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. All is well.

Let's stand.