Second Kings 4:18

The Bible says in Second 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.[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.[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.[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.[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.[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.” The Shunamite woman suffered one of the worst sufferings of life: to lose a child. God the Father suffered that too. He watched His Son die on the cross for the sins of the world. But the Shunamite woman knew that any problem could be taken to God for help, and she did that very thing; and then she experienced another miracle to see her son raised from the dead. Notice the last part of verse twenty-seven where the prophet said, “…her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.” God speaks to us and reveals many things to each of us. He speaks to us through the Word. He speaks to us by the Spirit. He speaks to us by touching our hearts in certain ways. Elisha was accustomed to God revealing things to Him. He had a relationship with God. God revealed things to Elisha and Elisha relied on that happening. In this situation Elisha knew that God had not revealed what was going on. He knew the woman was troubled, but he did not know why.

The Bible says in Second Kings 4:28-37, “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.” Before the child was raised from the dead, the first thing that Elisha did is found in verse thirty-three. He “prayed unto the LORD.” That is the first thing that we should do also when we are presented with a difficult situation. Elisha was faced with an impossible situation. But God can do anything. Do not ever forget that great truth, and make sure that you apply that truth to your life every day. Pray. God answers prayer.

The Bible says in Second Kings 4:38-44, “And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.[39] And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.[40] So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.[41] But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.[42] And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.[43] And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.[44] So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.” This was similar to the miracle of the Lord Jesus when He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000. These types of miracles show us that God cares about us. He knows our material needs. He is our Shepherd, and He leads His sheep to green pastures where we can eat and be satisfied. And then we use our strength and health to serve Him.

The Bible says in Second Kings 5:1, “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.” Everyone has their share of problems no matter who they are. The rich and famous have their problems too. Naaman had leprosy. In the Bible leprosy is symbolic of sin. And that is what this story is all about. How do you get cleansed from sin? You must hear the truth from the people of God, and then you must do what the truth says: “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 5:2-5, “And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.[3] And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.[4] And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.[5] And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.” Notice whom God uses to guide the great captain Naaman in the right direction: an insignificant servant girl. We are not even told her name. But she knew the truth and so she spoke the truth, and God used her. Do you speak the truth of the Gospel to those around you?

The Bible says in Second Kings 5:6-8, “And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.[7] And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.[8] And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Naaman listened to the young servant girl. What did he have to lose? He had no other options other than to continue to suffer with his leprosy. If people were desperate to turn to Christ to get their sins forgiven, they would do what Naaman did. They would listen to the testimony of the believers and go find out for themselves about Jesus. Notice the last phrase of verse eight where Elisha said, “he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” One reason that God answers our prayers is so that His name can be glorified. God wants to show to the people of the world that He exists and that He loves them.

The Bible says in Second Kings 5:9-16, “So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.[10] And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.[11] But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.[12] Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.[13] And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?[14] Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.[15] And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.[16] But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.” The washing in the water was symbolic of the forgiveness of sins. It was similar to baptism in that the water of baptism does not save or cleanse from sin, but it symbolizes the cleansing from sin. We know that this was a conversion experience for Naaman because he said in verse fifteen, “now I know that there is no God in all earth, but in Israel.” Notice that when Naaman offered a material gift to Elisha that Elisha would not take it. The truth is free and preachers should do everything in their power to give that impression. Jesus paid it all on the cross, and we do not want people to think we are after their money. If you need money, get a job. But provide the Gospel to people as a free service to the world. It says that Elisha “refused” to take a financial gift. Jesus worked as a carpenter for thirty years before being a preacher for three years. Paul worked as a tent maker in order to not be a financial burden to some of the churches where he ministered such as Corinth and Ephesus and Thessalonica. What have you done to make sure that people do not see Christianity as a money-grabbing organization? Jesus paid it all. Salvation through faith in Christ costs no money.

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