Rudy Ross and I have made over 1,500 YouTube videos on Bible studies. Now, Bruce Kirby has joined us, and the three of us work on these videos together.
Rudy often says that God loves people. We see this in the cross and in how God sent his servants to show his love to others. An example of God’s love and concern for people came through a woman from Shunam.
She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God.
Let us make a small roof chamber with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us” (2 Kings 4:9-10).
Elisha wanted to repay the woman’s kindness, so he sent his servant to ask what she needed. She replied that she had no children and her husband was old. Elisha told her she would have a son, and as expected, it happened in due time.
He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. 16 He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.”
The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her (2 Kings 4:1-16-17).
Country Ham and Red-Eye Gravy
I’ve never experienced a dramatic event like Elisha’s. But I’ve frequently been on the receiving end of kindness.
I remember when I was in college, preaching in a small town in southeast Missouri. We had a two-week revival there, so I preached 10 nightly meetings, missing the Sundays to fill the pulpit where I was pastor.
On the first night, I had some of the best country ham, red-eye gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans I’d ever eaten. I mentioned it from the pulpit.
Back then, it was customary for the preacher to visit with people and have dinner. So for the next 9 nights, I had country ham, red-eye gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans.
By the end of the two-week revival, I was happy to eat something different. However, I have never forgotten the kindness of those folks in that small town.
Confrontation and Miracle #2
The son God gave the woman from Shunam grew old enough to help his father in the field. One day, while working, he likely had a heat stroke. He was brought home and died while his mother held him.
The woman was determined to reach Elisha and ask him to help her son. She traveled as fast as she could to the prophet. In her grief, she fell before Elisha, grabbed his cloak, and told him about her son’s death.
Elisha sent his servant to quickly take his staff and lay it on the child’s face. He might have believed the staff would keep the child safe until he could come and help.
Elisha and the boy’s mother arrived soon after his servant. When they got there, Elisha prayed. Then he lay face to face with the child until God made the boy sneeze, his body warmed up, and he came back to life.
Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.”
She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left (2 Kings 4:36-37).
Raised from the Dead
During the same revival meeting, where I was eating country ham and the trimmings, the pastor and I met a lady while visiting door-to-door on a lovely spring day.
When we met her, I asked if she had ever asked Jesus to be her Savior. She replied that she would like to, but didn’t think she could live up to it. I had recently read an illustration, so I shared it with her.
I asked, “Do you think God put Noah on the outside of the ark and said, ‘Now Noah, if you hang on you’ll make it’? No, He put Noah inside and shut the door. He’ll do the same for you.”
She responded with faith and asked Jesus to be her Savior. Learning about her checkered past, I was concerned about how the women of the church would receive her. To my relief, they welcomed her wonderfully.
The following Sunday, she, her husband and adult daughter, and her granddaughter were all baptized as members of the church and followers of Jesus.
While she wasn’t raised from the dead physically, spiritually she and her family found new life through Jesus Christ.
Praise God for the millions who have been raised from spiritual death to life because of God’s love for humanity.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 