4/12/2011 7:44:47 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Grace imparts the life
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Kings 4:8-37
Message of the verses: I want to break up this SD into the outline
that is in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on 2Kings.
The first sub-title is “A great
woman,” and it covers verses 8-10.
“8 ¶ Now there came a day when
Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she
persuaded him to eat food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned
in there to eat food. 9 She said to her
husband, "Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by
us continually. 10 "Please, let us
make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a
table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that
he can turn in there.’”
This
woman was probably much more spiritual than what her husband was. She was probably rich and had influence in
the community that she lived in. It is
though that this was a half way point from where Elisha was ministering and
therefore would be a good place for him and his servant to stay. It is also believed that the husband was much
older than she was. The woman and her
husband made a place for Elisha and Gehazi to stay.
A great gift: “11
One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested.
12 Then he said to Gehazi his servant,
"Call this Shunammite." And when he had called her, she stood before
him. 13 He said to him, "Say now to
her, ’Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what can I do
for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the
army?’" And she answered, "I live among my own people." 14 So he said, "What then is to be done for
her?" And Gehazi answered, "Truly she has no son and her husband is
old." 15 He said, "Call
her." When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 Then he said, "At this season next year
you will embrace a son." And she said, "No, my lord, O man of God, do
not lie to your maidservant." 17
The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as
Elisha had said to her.”
I
seem to get the idea that this woman had truly wanted to have children, but
probably had given up on the idea because her husband was older and they had
not had any children so she just put it out of her mind and so when Elisha told
her that she would have a son she probably did not believe him and this brought
back all of the pain that she had had before she had put it out of her
mind. The story remind me of when the
Angel of the Lord told Abraham that in the next year Abraham and Sarah would have
a son, and Sarah laughed in her heart about this thought.
A great sorrow: “18 ¶
When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father to
the reapers. 19 He said to his father,
"My head, my head." And he said to his servant, "Carry him to
his mother." 20 When he had taken
him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then died.
21 She went up and laid him on the bed
of the man of God, and shut the door behind him and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband and said,
"Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may run
to the man of God and return." 23
He said, "Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor
sabbath." And she said, "It will be well." 24 Then she saddled a donkey and said to her
servant, "Drive and go forward; do not slow down the pace for me unless I
tell you." 25 So she went and came
to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance,
he said to Gehazi his servant, "Behold, there is the Shunammite. 26 "Please run now to meet her and say to
her, ’Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the
child?’" And she answered, "It is well." 27 When she came to the man of God to the hill,
she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man
of God said, "Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the
LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me." 28 Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from
my lord? Did I not say, ’Do not deceive me’?’”
Dr.
Wiersbe brings out a point in this section that I had never thought about when
I read it on the different occasions that I read through the Bible, and that is
that she did not tell her husband that the boy died because she was afraid that
he would bury their son before she could return with the man of God. I believe that she must have known that
Elisha could do something for her son even though he had already died and that
is why she went to see him so fast. She
was heartbroken and Elisha could see this even though his servant did not see
it. He remarks that the Lord had not
spoken to him about this.
The great miracle: “29
Then he said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins and take my staff in
your hand, and go your way; if you meet any man, do not salute him, and if
anyone salutes you, do not answer him; and lay my staff on the lad’s
face." 30 The mother of the lad
said, "As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you."
And he arose and followed her. 31 Then
Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the lad’s face, but there
was no sound or response. So he returned to meet him and told him, "The
lad has not awakened." 32 When
Elisha came into the house, behold the lad was dead and laid on his bed.
33 So he entered and shut the door
behind them both and
prayed to the LORD. 34 And he
went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on
his eyes and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself on him; and the
flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then
he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up and
stretched himself on him; and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened
his eyes. 36 He called Gehazi and said,
"Call this Shunammite." So he called her. And when she came in to
him, he said, "Take up your son." 37
Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground,
and she took up her son and went out.”
Elisha
send his servant ahead to lay his staff on the boy but this did nothing for him
and he ran to tell Elisha that this did not awaken the boy. Elisha went into the room that the boy was in
which was the same room that Elisha slept in and found the boy Elisha’s bed and
he was dead. Elisha closed the door and
laid on the bed and some would say that he gave him artificial respiration, but
this was not the case, for this was a great miracle of grace from the hand of
the LORD.
I
wish to quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary at this point: “Only God’s grace can impart life, whether to
a barren womb or to a dead boy, and only God’s grace can impart spiritual life
to the dead sinner (John 5:24"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My
word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into
judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”) This can also be seen in John 17:1-3; and
Ephesians 2:1-10. It was God who gave
the boy life, but He used Elisha as the means to do it. So it is with raising sinners from the
dead: God needs witnesses, prayer
warriors, and concerned saints to bring that life to them. Said Charles Spurgeon, ‘The Holy Ghost works
by those who feel they would lay down their own lives for the good of others,
and would impart to them not only their goods and their instructions, but
themselves also, if by any means they might save some. O for more Elisha’s, for then we should see
more sinners raised from their death in sin.’”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I totally agree with this quote from Charles
Spurgeon, as it is the Lord who saves the lost sinner, but it is also the Lord
that allows people like me to become a part of this process, and it is the Lord
who has given me a desire to lead others to this wonderful life changing
experience, that is to find saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who provided
his own death to pay for their sins.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
By the grace of God that He would allow me to share
the good news of the Gospel with others that He leads into my life.
2.
I must remember that there is a battle raging around
me and I am in need of the spiritual armor to be in place.
3.
I give myself to the Lord for worship and service
this day.
4.
I want to continue to learn contentment.
5.
I want to have a clean heart.
4/12/2011 8:59:54 AM
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