Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 4:18–37, “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. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? 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. 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. 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. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 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. 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. 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. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.”
The woman and her husband were delighted to have their son and he started to grow up towards adulthood. When he was old enough to go out into the fields with his father he went out to work with him. One day, the boy felt a sharp pain in his head and his father told some of the farm workers to take the boy back home to his mother. His mother nursed him during the morning and then the boy died. The mother was devastated, this seemed like a cruel joke, they had enjoyed their son but now he was dead. Surely it was better never to have a child than to have a son and then lose him at a young age. The woman knew that the pain of losing a child was far greater than the pain of not having a child at all after all, she had experienced both of those things. She saddled an ass, that is one of her donkeys, and went with one of her servants straight to see Elisha. She was so devastated with grief that she wouldn’t see anyone but the Lord’s great prophet. Elisha was close by in Mt Carmel and she came straight to him. As she got close Elisha saw her coming and sent Gehazi to see what was troubling her. She refused to speak to Elisha’s servant and went straight to the prophet himself. When Elisha discovered that the woman’s son was dead, he sent his servant with his prophet’s staff and sent him to the woman’s house. He told Gehazi to place the staff on the child’s body and he would follow as well. Gehazi came back to Elisha and told him that the child was still dead. Elisha went to the woman’s house to find that she had laid her son’s body on the bed in the room that he used when he stayed there. Elisha lay on the boy’s body, with his mouth against the boy’s mouth, his eye’s against the boy’s eyes and his hands against the boy’s hands. When he did this the boy’s body became warm. He came down from the room that was on the flat roof of the house and walked around for a while. Elisha went upstairs again and repeated the procedure. The child sneezed seven times and woke up. Elisha gave the boy to his mother and she was grateful to the Lord.
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