WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.860 about tonight to Elisha. Elisha is the prophet 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:11.980 of God and he has this really interesting interaction 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:14.259 with a lady that we're gonna learn about, the 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:15.679 Shunammite woman. How many of you guys ever heard 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.320 of Shunammite? The Shunammite woman. This is 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.640 like one of those stories that I've read and 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.780 I've heard about but today I read all the way 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:24.359 through and really thought about and it's a pretty 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:30.850 cool story. And we're in this, a series called 00:00:30.850 --> 00:00:34.909 Seeing God's Hand at Work, walking through this 00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:40.049 character study in Elisha. Here's the big idea 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:43.789 for today's lesson. If we want to see God's hand 00:00:43.789 --> 00:00:46.070 in our lives, one of the ways we can see God's 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:49.369 hand at work is in the meeting of the needs of 00:00:49.369 --> 00:00:55.030 others. Sometimes God uses us, sometimes God 00:00:55.030 --> 00:00:58.020 gives to us so that we can be a blessing. to 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:02.240 other people. That's part of what God does and 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.340 one of the ways we can see God work in our lives 00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:08.260 is to allow him to use us to impact other people. 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:10.540 And so if we're going to do that, if we want 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.459 to see God's hand in the meeting and the needs 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:14.879 of others and being a part of that, we must have 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:17.239 the kinds of motivation shown to us in the life 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:20.980 of the Shunammite woman as she interacts with 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:24.799 Elisha. So if you have your Bibles, 2 Kings Chapter 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:28.180 four is where we're going to be. This helps us 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:31.560 to kind of learn about Elisha and what happened 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:33.680 here. Now, interestingly, and I think this was 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.879 the lesson last week. Elisha at the beginning 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:40.159 of chapter four, were you in the second chapter 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.120 four last week? I came in late. I paid really 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.379 close attention. But yeah, second king, chapter 00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:50.680 four. Elisha in that story is dealing with a 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.480 woman who is impoverished. She doesn't have a 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:56.959 lot. Today's lesson, he's dealing with this Shunammite 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.099 woman, and the Bible says that she's a great 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:01.400 woman, or she's a rich woman. She does have a 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:06.219 lot. And the reason why I put, as I kind of crafted 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:09.780 this objective statement, this sermon in a sentence 00:02:09.780 --> 00:02:15.580 that we do, we're talking about kinds of motivations. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:21.300 We can see in this particular story, This woman 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:24.740 interacting with Elisha and interacting in her 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:28.379 circumstance based on certain motivations of 00:02:28.379 --> 00:02:32.800 why she's doing things. And I kind of want to 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.759 point out that her motivation here, these are 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.840 right motivations. These are not the total number 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.860 of right motivations you can have to see God's 00:02:42.860 --> 00:02:45.639 hand in meeting the needs of others. You can 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:47.300 have other motivations other than the ones I'm 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:50.099 going to say. But it's these kinds of motivations 00:02:50.099 --> 00:02:55.300 that God uses to help us to really work through 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:57.800 us to help meet people's needs. How many guys 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:01.960 have ever been in a situation where you had the 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:04.280 opportunity to help somebody out and you did 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.080 it and you're like, that was awesome. You ever 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:11.530 had that happen to you? The Bible quotes Jesus, 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:15.090 not in the gospels, but Paul quotes him in one 00:03:15.090 --> 00:03:17.389 of his epistles, and he says, what Jesus said 00:03:17.389 --> 00:03:21.289 was that it was better to give than to, what? 00:03:21.729 --> 00:03:23.770 Receive. It really is better to give than to 00:03:23.770 --> 00:03:25.509 receive. I'd rather be in a position where I 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:27.949 get to give than to be in a position where I 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:31.270 have to receive, right? Now, receiving's fun, 00:03:31.509 --> 00:03:33.569 too, right? It's not that it's always bad, we 00:03:33.569 --> 00:03:35.750 like to receive, but it's definitely better to 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:38.139 give than to receive. You guys wanna just dive 00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:39.759 into a story? That's what we're gonna do tonight. 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:41.800 The first motivation we're gonna see is that 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.280 this lady, this Shunammite woman, she was motivated 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.560 by, first of all, in this first section, she's 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.840 motivated by honor. Motivated by honor. Now, 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:53.960 look at 2 Kings chapter four, starting in verse 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:57.699 eight. Here's what it says. And it fell on a 00:03:57.699 --> 00:04:03.000 day that Elisha passed to Shunamm. She's a Shunammite, 00:04:03.020 --> 00:04:06.729 cause she's from. Shunem, there you go, right? 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:11.789 Are we Finleyites? What are we? Finleyians? Are 00:04:11.789 --> 00:04:15.310 we Finleyians? Right? What's someone from Faustoria? 00:04:15.409 --> 00:04:21.069 What are the? Huh? The Foe Towners, okay. I think 00:04:21.069 --> 00:04:22.389 you just made that up, but that's pretty cool. 00:04:22.790 --> 00:04:26.930 What are the New Regalians? New Regalians, okay, 00:04:27.009 --> 00:04:29.949 very cool. All right, I like that. So it fell 00:04:29.949 --> 00:04:33.189 on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem. Where 00:04:33.189 --> 00:04:35.750 was a great woman? Now that great there, it means 00:04:35.750 --> 00:04:38.550 that she was notable, she was rich. This is not 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:41.009 talking about her being a large lady. She's a 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:44.509 good lady, okay? She's a rich lady, right? And 00:04:44.509 --> 00:04:49.490 she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was 00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:52.750 that as off as he passed by, he turned in thither 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:55.990 to eat bread. As I was reading this text, I was 00:04:55.990 --> 00:04:59.509 like, this lady sounds like kind of like a country 00:04:59.509 --> 00:05:04.209 folksy. down south southern lady. Hey, come on 00:05:04.209 --> 00:05:07.689 in. Like, here's Elisha. Hey, I got an extra 00:05:07.689 --> 00:05:09.829 seat at the table. Come on, I got extra food. 00:05:10.110 --> 00:05:12.370 We got another seat, right? How many of you guys 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:14.949 have ever had hospitality like that? Like you 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:16.769 just happened to be around at dinnertime and 00:05:16.769 --> 00:05:19.149 said, no, you can stay. Come on, come let's eat, 00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:22.740 right? She constrained him. You ever have someone 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:24.459 that's so nice they don't take no for an answer? 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.439 That's what's going on here, right? And so it 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.439 was that as often as he passed by, he turned 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.199 and thithered to eat bread. What does that mean? 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.259 I think I might come around here a little bit 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:37.100 more. Every time I come out here, she's asking 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:41.519 me to come and have some bread. Verse nine. And 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:43.540 she said unto her husband, now this is pretty 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:46.720 cool, this great woman, the Shunammite woman, 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:50.540 said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive 00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:54.660 that this is an holy man of God which path is 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:59.420 passeth by us continually. She's she's saying 00:05:59.420 --> 00:06:03.540 this guy is a guy who walks with God. This guy 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:07.899 is a guy who has a connection with God. So I 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:12.139 got a plan. Verse 10. Let us make a little chamber. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:16.220 I pray thee on the wall and let us set for him 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:21.860 there a bed and a table. a stool and a candlestick 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:25.339 and it shall be when he cometh to us that he 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:29.199 shall turn in thither." So what does she say? 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:31.860 Hey if he's gonna come by here all the time and 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:34.459 he's not from here you know back then they didn't 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.540 have Motel 6 or Hampton Inn or that kind of thing. 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:41.019 Hey let's make it really high not only does he 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.540 come by and get bread and eat with us, let's 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:45.279 make it so that he has a place to stay. He's 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.939 got a bed, a little nightstand, Gideon Bible, 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:50.540 you know, candlestick, the whole nine, right? 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:55.279 Let's make it comfortable for this guy. In a 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:57.420 lot of churches, maybe one day we'll get one 00:06:57.420 --> 00:07:01.740 of these, they have... They have missions apartments. 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:04.120 Everybody's heard of a mission apartment. What 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:06.779 it was is that sometimes at some churches they 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:09.639 put a little, they have an extra room somewhere 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:14.759 and they put a basically a living area, couches, 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.920 that kind of thing and a bed maybe. We call it 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:21.500 a missions apartment and years before that they 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:24.079 would call that a prophet's lodge or a prophet's 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.300 chamber. That's what some people would call that 00:07:27.300 --> 00:07:29.829 thing. It may have come from this little thing 00:07:29.829 --> 00:07:31.829 right here this idea of this guy that comes through 00:07:31.829 --> 00:07:34.069 and we're going to be hospitable saves the church 00:07:34.069 --> 00:07:36.870 on a hotel bill and lets us use this room and 00:07:36.870 --> 00:07:41.269 do that kind of a thing I believe and we're going 00:07:41.269 --> 00:07:46.129 to see this as we go through here this lady was 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:49.350 a lady it literally tells us that she and we're 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:52.709 going to see more evidence that she was she had 00:07:52.709 --> 00:07:57.470 some means that she was wealthy in the sense 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:04.430 of That time, I believe I'm reading between the 00:08:04.430 --> 00:08:07.149 lines, okay? So this is not convictional like 00:08:07.149 --> 00:08:10.029 the virgin birth for me is convictional. But 00:08:10.029 --> 00:08:12.230 it seems to me that when I read this story, that 00:08:12.230 --> 00:08:14.110 this is a lady who maybe wouldn't have been able 00:08:14.110 --> 00:08:17.209 to express it this way, but understood this idea 00:08:17.209 --> 00:08:21.730 of sowing and reaping. That when you're generous 00:08:21.730 --> 00:08:26.709 and you're giving and you're helpful, that tends 00:08:26.709 --> 00:08:30.860 to be reciprocated. Right? This is a lady that's 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:33.259 looking for an opportunity to be a blessing. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:35.559 I don't believe, and we're gonna keep reading. 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:38.259 You'll see why I'm saying this. I don't believe 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:41.740 that she is motivated by greed. I don't think 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.820 she's motivated to be generous to the man of 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:49.039 God, the man of God here, the prophet, that he's 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.200 being generous so that she can get something 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:55.500 back. Like she's trying to like manipulate God 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:58.029 into doing something for her. You may have heard 00:08:58.029 --> 00:09:00.970 me say recently, you can't manipulate God, right? 00:09:01.409 --> 00:09:03.990 But I do believe that she's motivated by, hey, 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:07.590 this is a man. In fact, she says, she gives in 00:09:07.590 --> 00:09:10.129 verse nine, her motivation or her reasoning for 00:09:10.129 --> 00:09:14.149 verse 10. Do you see that? I see that this guy, 00:09:14.389 --> 00:09:18.070 Elisha, I perceive, and she says, behold now. 00:09:19.250 --> 00:09:23.350 Behold. What does behold mean? Look at this. 00:09:23.850 --> 00:09:28.379 Think about this. Hey, honey. I want to tell 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:30.700 you something. This is important. I get that 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:33.899 this guy is a man of God. This guy is a guy that 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:37.159 walks with God. He comes by here all the time. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.360 Let's make provision for him. Let's be a blessing 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.460 to him. I want to be generous to him. And I think 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:47.820 there's some, it seems like, again, reading between 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:51.340 the lines, I love the Lord. He loves the Lord. 00:09:51.539 --> 00:09:55.610 He walks with the Lord. God's using him. we need 00:09:55.610 --> 00:09:59.370 more of that in our lives, right? I wanna be 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:03.830 around people and I wanna honor people that honor 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:05.809 the Lord, that walk with the Lord, that live 00:10:05.809 --> 00:10:08.309 for the Lord. Does that make sense? And so it's 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:11.750 her motivation, I think, and her generosity is, 00:10:12.289 --> 00:10:14.789 and by the way, when you are around those kind 00:10:14.789 --> 00:10:16.190 of people and you bless those kind of people, 00:10:16.269 --> 00:10:18.809 aren't they a blessing back to you? I think there's 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:20.470 a little bit of that there. Again, I'm not saying 00:10:20.470 --> 00:10:25.279 she's, Trying to get that back in her life as 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.299 the motivation, this greed motivation, I think 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:30.139 she's actually motivated and wanting to honor 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:33.299 Him and running to honor the Lord. So I think 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.399 she's motivated by honor. I believe that God 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:42.279 uses us to be a blessing to others when we have 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:46.980 a heart to want to honor the good, to want to 00:10:46.980 --> 00:10:50.720 honor the godly, okay? Second thing. motivated 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.820 by humility look at verse 11 now check it out 00:10:54.820 --> 00:10:59.240 verse 11 and it fell on a day that he came thither 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:03.879 he meaning Elisha he came thither to her place 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:07.200 and he turned into the chamber and lay there 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:13.039 and he said to Gehazi his servant call this Shunammite 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.480 and when he called her she stood before him so 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.529 he's got this Elisha has this servant that's 00:11:20.529 --> 00:11:23.230 going with him, and he goes in there, and you 00:11:23.230 --> 00:11:25.730 can, okay, I'm painting between the lines here. 00:11:25.750 --> 00:11:28.389 He goes into this prophet's lodge, this place 00:11:28.389 --> 00:11:30.590 that they've set up, and you can tell it's almost 00:11:30.590 --> 00:11:33.110 like, hey, this is comfortable. Hey, we need, 00:11:33.629 --> 00:11:35.929 hey, get that lady up here. This is a good idea. 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:37.669 This is so nice. She was being so kind to us. 00:11:37.730 --> 00:11:42.190 I wanna talk to her, right? So he goes and gets 00:11:42.190 --> 00:11:44.669 her, she comes up, verse 13. And he said unto 00:11:44.669 --> 00:11:48.929 him, say now unto her, So apparently he's communicating 00:11:48.929 --> 00:11:52.610 through the servant. Behold, thou hast been careful 00:11:52.610 --> 00:11:57.769 for us with all this care. Careful here, we use 00:11:57.769 --> 00:11:59.809 the old English word, we use the English word 00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:04.389 now careful as like, don't be dangerous, don't 00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:07.490 do something dangerous, be careful, right? Oh, 00:12:07.950 --> 00:12:09.830 I see Jeff go up on a ladder. Be careful, Jeff, 00:12:10.250 --> 00:12:13.840 right? That's what we do, I'm sorry. Be careful, 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:17.919 right? But here, I think the idea here is you 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:20.840 have taken pains to care for us. You've been 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:25.279 full of care for us, right? What is it to be 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.500 done for thee? Wouldest thou be spoken for the 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:32.139 king or to the captain of the host? So what's 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:34.240 Elisha saying? Elisha essentially is saying, 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:37.220 hey, you have been so kind. You've been so good 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:40.700 to us. I want to be a blessing back to you. Do 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:43.799 you want me to put a good word in for you with 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:45.899 these notable people that I have influence with, 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:49.440 with the king or with the captain of the soldiers, 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:51.480 the security of the area. What do you want me 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:56.860 to do? And she answered, I dwell among mine own 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:00.379 people. Now every time I, every commentary I 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:04.179 looked at that, looked at that, essentially says 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.759 the same thing, that this expression was her 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:11.730 saying, I have everything I need. I'm with my 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:14.850 people. My people care for me. I care for them. 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:18.169 I don't need anything. I don't need any favor 00:13:18.169 --> 00:13:23.009 from anybody notable. I'm fine. Again, that tells 00:13:23.009 --> 00:13:26.230 me that she wasn't doing the honoring to get 00:13:26.230 --> 00:13:29.870 something back from Elisha. This is a lady that 00:13:29.870 --> 00:13:33.789 is understanding God's own care for her and is 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:35.669 understanding that she's not trying to do what 00:13:35.669 --> 00:13:38.409 she's doing to garner any kind of favor, right? 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:41.000 Isn't that a good thing? It's nice when people 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:45.559 are like that, right? And he said, and this is 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:49.379 apparently to a servant, verse 14, and he said, 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:52.019 what is to be done for her? Well, we gotta do 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:54.740 something. What do we do for this lady? She's 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:59.720 been so nice. And Gehazi answered, verily she 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:05.799 hath no child and her husband is what? Is old. 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:13.779 Now, I kinda mentioned something like this on 00:14:13.779 --> 00:14:20.679 Sunday. Again, in this particular time, in ancient 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.399 times, probably even this way around the world, 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.580 for someone to be a widow, they don't typically 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:32.779 go out and farm, especially the older they get, 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:34.379 they don't go out and farm, they don't go out 00:14:34.379 --> 00:14:38.799 and work, right? Give us this day our daily bread. 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:42.250 If I'm gonna eat now, I gotta work so that I 00:14:42.250 --> 00:14:44.950 have enough to eat, right? And as she's getting 00:14:44.950 --> 00:14:47.230 older, if she doesn't have any children and her 00:14:47.230 --> 00:14:49.970 husband is gonna die, maybe, okay, maybe she 00:14:49.970 --> 00:14:53.649 is a person of means, but she doesn't have a 00:14:53.649 --> 00:14:56.889 long -term security plan. There's not like stocks 00:14:56.889 --> 00:14:59.750 and bonds. Does that make sense? She's a person 00:14:59.750 --> 00:15:02.970 of means, but that's connected to her husband 00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:06.070 and she doesn't have a child. If her husband 00:15:06.070 --> 00:15:09.870 is old, Is she young? She may be. We're never 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:14.230 told how old she is. You can say, oh, she's young 00:15:14.230 --> 00:15:16.610 because of what happens later. But in the Bible, 00:15:17.169 --> 00:15:19.610 that's the thing I'm leaving kind of mysterious 00:15:19.610 --> 00:15:23.330 now. Happens to old people too, because sometimes 00:15:23.330 --> 00:15:30.049 God does miracles, right? So anyway, Gehazi just 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:32.690 goes right at that. This is the thing that she'll 00:15:32.690 --> 00:15:35.529 never say, but is her greatest need. Does that 00:15:35.529 --> 00:15:39.929 make sense? If she was really candid with probably 00:15:39.929 --> 00:15:42.129 what kept her up at night, what kept her up at 00:15:42.129 --> 00:15:45.570 night was, I got an old husband, I have no kids, 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:47.830 I don't know how this is gonna work out for me 00:15:47.830 --> 00:15:50.750 in the long term. And Gehazi just says something 00:15:50.750 --> 00:15:53.389 about it. When she's asked, what do you need 00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:55.409 from the man of God, she doesn't say anything. 00:15:56.870 --> 00:16:00.610 When Gehazi said, what do we do for her, he knows 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:03.289 what her need is. Does that make sense? Okay, 00:16:04.049 --> 00:16:08.399 verse 16, and he said, So now he says this to 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:11.360 her about this season according to the time of 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.720 life thou shalt embrace a son Okay, so essentially 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.460 he she says you don't have a son about this time 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:25.600 next year you're gonna have a baby and She said 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.659 name my lord thou man of God do not lie unto 00:16:28.659 --> 00:16:33.580 thine handmaid again what she's saying This is 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:35.419 again me reading between the lines, but as you 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:37.279 read the whole text is kind of where it's almost 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:41.919 like There's no way Are you kidding me? I'm not 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:45.320 there's no way I'm gonna have a kid, right? Why 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.799 is it because her husband's old is it because 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:51.860 she's old in whatever way of her thinking that 00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:56.960 particular Need being met was something she never 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.279 considered that could have been met. Does that 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:05.009 make sense? That's kind of wish and she says 00:17:05.009 --> 00:17:07.210 don't lie to me essentially I think what she's 00:17:07.210 --> 00:17:10.190 saying is That's so good that you can't play 00:17:10.190 --> 00:17:12.630 with me about that kind of a thing If you're 00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:14.309 saying if you're saying I'm gonna have a kid 00:17:14.309 --> 00:17:16.670 That's what I've longed for my whole life If 00:17:16.670 --> 00:17:18.890 you're gonna don't play with my emotions to say 00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:21.509 I'm gonna have a kid if that's not actually gonna 00:17:21.509 --> 00:17:24.750 happen It's like too good to be true. Does that 00:17:24.750 --> 00:17:26.650 make sense? That's kind of what it's going on 00:17:26.650 --> 00:17:31.990 there verse 17 I Love how the Bible just skips 00:17:31.990 --> 00:17:35.009 forward Right? Verse 17. And the woman conceived. 00:17:35.670 --> 00:17:37.430 Like, not right at that moment in the doorway. 00:17:38.430 --> 00:17:42.049 Right? Later on, this is what happened. She conceived 00:17:42.049 --> 00:17:44.369 and she bare a son at that season that Elisha 00:17:44.369 --> 00:17:48.089 had said under her, according to the time of 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:50.410 life. That's pretty cool. Who thinks that's cool? 00:17:51.410 --> 00:17:53.990 God met her needs. She didn't even ask for it. 00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:58.210 Didn't ask for it. God used Elisha to respond. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:02.319 To her actual need without her even asking for 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:08.039 it right I Believe there's humility here. Okay. 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:11.859 Why do I believe that I believe there's humility? 00:18:12.819 --> 00:18:23.200 Yes asking you shall receive Because I really 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:29.420 feel like her generosity to Elisha the first 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:33.359 part even when he's asking her what she wants 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:37.720 she's not she is not living as someone to go 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:42.599 on okay finally my plan has come about I bless 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:44.660 the man of God and now he's gonna grant me a 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:48.980 wish all right I want mmm right she is very much 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:53.079 like I'm I'm good and he's like so excited about 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:56.000 helping her that it's reciprocated back right 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:00.470 have you ever Felt like it's easier to help somebody 00:19:00.470 --> 00:19:03.029 when they don't expect it than to help somebody 00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:04.829 when they like feel like they are entitled to 00:19:04.829 --> 00:19:09.990 it right Man, I I love I love helping people, 00:19:09.990 --> 00:19:12.250 but when they're like yeah, you better help me. 00:19:12.250 --> 00:19:17.769 It's like Maybe I won't right So I think there's 00:19:17.769 --> 00:19:21.589 some There's some humility here now. This is 00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:24.680 where the story gets really good Okay. She's 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:27.640 motivated by honor. She's motivated by humility. 00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:31.200 Here's number three. I believe she's also motivated 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:35.299 by faith. Motivated by faith. Look at verse. 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:37.640 Another way you could say it, I kind of went 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:40.940 back and forth, because if you're a Baptist preacher, 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:43.640 you got to do all H's, right? Honor, humility, 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:49.180 hope, right? And I think hope's there too. But 00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:51.799 hopeful faith. Let's just kind of, let's do that. 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:57.789 All right. Verse 18, and when the child was grown, 00:19:59.190 --> 00:20:03.170 okay, this is probably, grown doesn't mean 18, 00:20:03.549 --> 00:20:07.430 grown probably means 12, 11, like hitting the 00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:10.630 age where they consider boys to become men. He's 00:20:10.630 --> 00:20:14.490 still young. When the child was grown, it fell 00:20:14.490 --> 00:20:18.450 in a day that he went out to his father to the 00:20:18.450 --> 00:20:22.049 reapers. What does that mean? This means it's 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:25.160 reaping season. what we would call fall, autumn, 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.920 whatever. It's time to harvest Dad, who was old 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.259 when he was not even born, so he's apparently 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:35.119 pretty old now. He's out there managing all the 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:37.799 people doing the harvest. Is Dad preoccupied 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:40.880 with work? That's what's going on. He's managing 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:45.900 the reapers. Verse 19, and he said unto his father, 00:20:46.099 --> 00:20:50.240 my head, my head. Now this is where, don't read 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:53.420 the Bible boringly. Okay? Is boringly a word? 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.299 Don't be boring when you read the Bible. My head, 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.619 my head is not, my head, my head. It's like, 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.420 I think he's, something's going on and he's hurting. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:08.160 Oh, my head, ah! Right? And he said to a lad, 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.599 so this is somebody else that's there, carry 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:16.180 him to his mother. So you can imagine the scene. 00:21:16.579 --> 00:21:19.680 Dad's out there managing the harvest. Here comes 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.190 son pulling on his robe. My dad, I'm hurting 00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:25.349 so bad, my head's hurting. And he's maybe even 00:21:25.349 --> 00:21:30.430 crying. It's like, okay, hey you, take him to 00:21:30.430 --> 00:21:32.529 his mama. His mama will take care of him, right? 00:21:32.650 --> 00:21:35.069 This is a mama problem. I like doing that too. 00:21:35.910 --> 00:21:40.569 Zeke, this is a mama problem. Go ask your mother, 00:21:40.849 --> 00:21:45.269 right, exactly. Verse 20, and when he, this is 00:21:45.269 --> 00:21:47.710 the lad, the guy he asked, had taken him, the 00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:51.259 son, he brought him to his mother. He, the son, 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:59.480 sat on her knees till noon and then died. Mama, 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:02.019 does that make you a little bit emotional? Can 00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:05.960 you imagine? Are you hurting, son? Yeah, just 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:13.819 come sit on my knee. Son? Son? Ezekiel? Shadrach? 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:21.839 Bill? Whatever. He's not alive. Verse 21, and 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:28.799 she went up, this is interesting, and laid, I 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:31.740 just lost my part, verse 21, and laid him on 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:36.960 the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:42.079 him and went out. So they had made this prophet's 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:45.319 lodge, remember the prophet's lodge? She took 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:50.599 him and put him on the bed. that Elisha normally 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:53.480 laid on, Elisha wasn't there, and she closed 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:56.000 the door and she leaves. Now look at her, this 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.000 is so interesting. I sat with Caleb, a young 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:01.000 man who's with us for a couple weeks, and we 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.059 were talking through this passage and we were 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:05.000 just like, why did she do that? Why did she do 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.700 that? And there's a lot that's not said that 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:09.140 you're trying to have to figure out. Check this 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:13.539 out. By the way, mama's in here. Would you be 00:23:13.539 --> 00:23:16.380 pretty much freaking out if that happened? Who 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:19.500 thinks you'd be pretty upset? What in the world 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:22.700 is going on with this kid just died and here's 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:25.900 probably part of your questioning like if this 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:30.980 is it if I was just supposed to have him for 00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:35.640 three or four Years five six seven however old 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:37.599 he was I don't know how what he was I'm thinking 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:42.559 closer to 10 11 12 What was that all about why 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.680 would God give him to me in this miraculous tremendous 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.059 way only for him to Die like this, like randomly, 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:52.380 my head, my head. Here he is, sit on my lap, 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:55.039 and then he dies. That's just very, what, what's 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.720 this all about? Why would the prophet of God 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:01.400 be used of God to give me this kid and then all 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:05.640 of a sudden he's gone? But here's where you see 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:09.400 this faith. Check this out. Verse 22, so she 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:13.160 leaves the son's body on the bed of the prophet 00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:16.819 and leaves. Verse 22. and she called into her 00:24:16.819 --> 00:24:20.920 husband and said, send me, I pray thee, one of 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:23.519 the young men and one of the asses that I may 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:28.640 run to the man of God and come again. That would 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.839 be like the equivalent of, give me a driver and 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:37.059 one of the trucks. We're gonna go see the preacher. 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:40.259 We're gonna go see the prophet. We're gonna go 00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:44.359 talk to Elisha. And his response is the equivalent 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:49.799 of, well, we'll talk about it. He says, and he 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:52.400 said, wherefore would thou go to him today? It 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:56.539 is neither new moon nor Sabbath. That would be 00:24:56.539 --> 00:24:58.240 the equivalent. I was like, why are you going 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:02.119 up to the church on Tuesday? It's not Sunday. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:08.089 What are you doing? What does she not say? She 00:25:08.089 --> 00:25:10.450 doesn't say my son died and he's in the prophets 00:25:10.450 --> 00:25:13.109 lodge. I got to go talk to him because he's dead 00:25:13.109 --> 00:25:17.369 She doesn't she just lets him keep reaping Does 00:25:17.369 --> 00:25:22.529 that make sense? She said it shall be well did 00:25:22.529 --> 00:25:29.730 she lie I Believe that's a it's not a lie. It's 00:25:29.730 --> 00:25:33.589 a faith proclamation. I got to go to him cuz 00:25:33.589 --> 00:25:36.579 that's how it's gonna be okay She didn't say 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:38.819 that she's saying this is gonna work out. It'll 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:43.680 be well She gives them a non -answer Which shows 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:51.500 me how much Like today The Bible is sometimes 00:25:51.500 --> 00:25:54.460 because sometimes my wife gives me non -answers 00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:57.980 When she doesn't want me to know certain things 00:25:57.980 --> 00:26:05.690 Anyway Verse 24 Then she sat on an ass and said 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:09.769 to her servant, drive and go forward, slack not 00:26:09.769 --> 00:26:14.589 thy writing for me, except I bid thee. She says, 00:26:15.450 --> 00:26:18.089 put the pedal to the metal and only slow down 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:21.710 if I get too scared. If I tell you to slow down, 00:26:21.750 --> 00:26:23.509 slow down, but other than that, you get going, 00:26:23.630 --> 00:26:30.049 get on it. Why is she in haste? I gotta get the 00:26:30.049 --> 00:26:32.950 profit to my dead son. That's why she's in haste. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:38.539 Verse 25, so she went and came into the man of 00:26:38.539 --> 00:26:41.339 God to Carmel, and it came to pass when the man 00:26:41.339 --> 00:26:45.500 of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi 00:26:45.500 --> 00:26:49.559 his servant, behold yonder is that Shunammite. 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:54.200 Run now I pray thee to meet her and say unto 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:56.099 her, is it well with thee? Is it well with thy 00:26:56.099 --> 00:26:59.279 husband? Is it well with thy child? So he tells 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:04.000 Gehazi, go, I see him. That's that Shunammite 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.660 woman. Go ask if she's okay. Make sure everything's 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:10.599 all right. So Gehazi goes out there and he says, 00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:13.799 he skips this part, but he assumes you understand 00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:16.200 that that's what Gehazi did. He goes out to her 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:19.859 and she goes, it's fine. It's fine. I'm fine. 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:24.059 Everything's fine. Right? And the way I imagine 00:27:24.059 --> 00:27:27.960 it is like, is like, I'll be the Shunammite woman 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:31.240 back here and you're Gehazi. So you're in the, 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:35.140 Justin, you, yeah. Right? Hey, is everything 00:27:35.140 --> 00:27:38.299 okay? That's your line. Yeah, fine. I'm fine. 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:42.599 Everything's fine. Right. She's still get... 00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:48.599 You can't help me. Husband can't help me. The 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:50.319 only one that can help me right now is God and 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.039 the man of God. I'm fine. I'm not gonna have 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:55.500 a... I'm not gonna stop and go, my son died. 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:02.420 My son died. My son died. Did you hear my son 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:06.259 died? That's not what she's doing. It's fine. 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:10.720 What she's saying is, essentially, you can't 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:12.980 help me. You can't help me. You can't help me. 00:28:13.099 --> 00:28:16.259 You can't help me. God's who can help me. Does 00:28:16.259 --> 00:28:19.400 that make sense? Thank you. Give Justin a high 00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:25.980 five. All right. It's well. Again, is she lying? 00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:31.950 I believe it's a statement of faith. Verse 27, 00:28:32.150 --> 00:28:34.549 and when she came to the man of God to the hill, 00:28:34.549 --> 00:28:41.289 she caught him by the feet. That's funny that 00:28:41.289 --> 00:28:44.150 you think, I don't think that means she tripped 00:28:44.150 --> 00:28:49.190 him. Sorry Donna, you're fine. I think what it 00:28:49.190 --> 00:28:53.910 means is she dove. Like she is like, I'm desperate, 00:28:54.190 --> 00:28:59.430 right? She falls at his feet. She's begging. 00:29:00.730 --> 00:29:04.349 She's pleading. Does that make sense? What does 00:29:04.349 --> 00:29:08.710 it say? But Gehazi came near to thrust her away. 00:29:09.569 --> 00:29:11.509 Crazy woman, what are you doing touching the 00:29:11.509 --> 00:29:14.869 man of God, right? Like that's maybe what Gehazi 00:29:14.869 --> 00:29:19.109 thinking. And the man of God, Elisha, said, let 00:29:19.109 --> 00:29:23.490 her alone, for her soul is vexed within her. 00:29:23.630 --> 00:29:26.049 It's obvious something's going on. What is wrong 00:29:26.049 --> 00:29:30.740 with her, right? and the Lord hath hid it from 00:29:30.740 --> 00:29:36.299 me and hath not told me." So apparently Elisha's 00:29:36.299 --> 00:29:39.099 walk with the Lord, and maybe this is what the 00:29:39.099 --> 00:29:41.200 Shunammite woman was perceiving before, I perceive 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:45.440 that this man is a holy man of God. He's a man 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:48.920 that's in touch with God and he's saying, apparently, 00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:52.839 God didn't want me to know what was going on 00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:57.900 with this woman until now, okay? She's obviously 00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:02.619 upset and I didn't know anything about it. Now 00:30:02.619 --> 00:30:04.980 this is interesting. I thought a lot about this 00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:11.980 verse, 28. Then she said, did I desire a son 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:20.119 of my lowercase L, Lord? What is she asking? 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:27.710 When you ask me what you could do for me, I said, 00:30:29.190 --> 00:30:34.470 I'm content. When you asked me what I wanted, 00:30:35.190 --> 00:30:40.009 I never said I wanted a son. That doesn't mean 00:30:40.009 --> 00:30:44.230 I didn't want a son, but I didn't ask for a son. 00:30:45.190 --> 00:30:50.670 Are you with me? Now, yes, and you said, okay, 00:30:50.869 --> 00:30:55.849 where am I? I just lost it. 28, did I not say, 00:30:56.549 --> 00:31:05.150 Do not deceive me. What does she mean? When you 00:31:05.150 --> 00:31:08.329 said, I'm gonna have a son, I said, don't lie 00:31:08.329 --> 00:31:14.549 to me now. That's so good. That is what I desire. 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:18.589 I'm putting, I'm reading between the lines. That's 00:31:18.589 --> 00:31:20.630 so good. Don't mess with me. Don't tempt me with, 00:31:20.910 --> 00:31:23.630 if that's what you think I should have you, if 00:31:23.630 --> 00:31:26.460 that's the blessing I'm gonna get. then I really 00:31:26.460 --> 00:31:29.319 hope I get that." And then she did get it, but 00:31:29.319 --> 00:31:33.779 here I am now, and I never asked for this son 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:37.319 that I love, and you gave me this son that I 00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:40.299 love, and now you're going to take him from me? 00:31:41.220 --> 00:31:43.599 Now he's going to be gone? Is this how this thing 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:52.140 ends? Do you get it? It's a pretty cool story. 00:31:53.420 --> 00:31:57.980 Verse 29. He didn't even answer. Then he said 00:31:57.980 --> 00:32:02.900 to Gehazi, gird up thy loins, and take my staff 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:07.079 in thine hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any 00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:09.119 man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, 00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:11.940 answer him not. Answer him not again, and lay 00:32:11.940 --> 00:32:16.839 my staff upon the face of the child. What's he 00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:21.819 saying? He's saying, so the woman is at his feet. 00:32:21.950 --> 00:32:24.190 begging and pleading for the life of her son. 00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:29.990 And his answer is, okay, Gehazi, get my staff. 00:32:30.250 --> 00:32:33.009 You go up there and you do what you can. Put 00:32:33.009 --> 00:32:37.309 the staff on his face. And you can get there 00:32:37.309 --> 00:32:41.349 faster than I am. I can. Apparently, Gehazi is, 00:32:42.029 --> 00:32:43.369 sometimes you look at two different people and 00:32:43.369 --> 00:32:47.289 you can tell which one's faster, right? Like, 00:32:47.490 --> 00:32:51.609 okay, anyway. And I think that's what's going 00:32:51.609 --> 00:32:56.869 on. So, and so it says, and he says, oh, and 00:32:56.869 --> 00:32:59.650 by the way, go with haste. If anybody says, why 00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:01.529 are you, what's, you're on the move, what's going 00:33:01.529 --> 00:33:04.190 on? Hey, I hadn't seen you in a while. Don't 00:33:04.190 --> 00:33:07.369 even answer him. Don't stop, don't stop at the 00:33:07.369 --> 00:33:09.789 gas station for a Gatorade. You just keep going, 00:33:10.069 --> 00:33:23.140 right? Now. Verse 30, so he tells Gehazi to do 00:33:23.140 --> 00:33:24.980 that, verse 30, and the mother of the child said, 00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:29.259 as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I 00:33:29.259 --> 00:33:36.440 will not leave thee. What's she saying? I think 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:40.680 what she's saying is, okay, and then, I'm not 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:46.720 leaving you, Elisha, and he arose and followed 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:53.690 her. I think what's going on here is, Kehazi, 00:33:53.809 --> 00:33:56.170 you can go, this is the Shunammite woman. Okay, 00:33:56.250 --> 00:33:58.369 she didn't say this, it's not quoted here, but 00:33:58.369 --> 00:34:00.730 this is the tenor of it. That's fine, you can 00:34:00.730 --> 00:34:03.029 send him with your staff, but you're coming. 00:34:04.069 --> 00:34:09.170 We're all going. As long as the Lord with it, 00:34:09.210 --> 00:34:13.030 liveth, you're with me. If Kehazi can figure 00:34:13.030 --> 00:34:15.409 it out when he gets there, fine, but you're coming. 00:34:16.070 --> 00:34:19.309 I'm not content with you just send on plan B. 00:34:19.969 --> 00:34:23.530 You're plan A. And plan A is going with me to 00:34:23.530 --> 00:34:26.489 the, are you with me? Does that make sense? I 00:34:26.489 --> 00:34:29.349 think that's what's going on. You can have a 00:34:29.349 --> 00:34:30.949 different opinion. That's just my way of thinking 00:34:30.949 --> 00:34:36.409 about it. And Gehazi passed on before them 31 00:34:36.409 --> 00:34:38.190 and laid the staff on the face of the child, 00:34:38.670 --> 00:34:40.949 but there was neither voice nor hearing. Did 00:34:40.949 --> 00:34:43.389 it work? Did Gehazi work? Did the staff work? 00:34:43.409 --> 00:34:49.110 No. Wherefore he went again to meet him and told 00:34:49.110 --> 00:34:52.010 him saying, the child is not awake. And when 00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:55.170 Elisha came into the house, behold, the child 00:34:55.170 --> 00:35:01.030 was dead and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore 00:35:01.030 --> 00:35:06.050 and shut the door upon them twain and prayed 00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:08.750 unto the Lord. And he went up and lay upon the 00:35:08.750 --> 00:35:10.849 child, put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes 00:35:10.849 --> 00:35:13.619 upon his eyes. His hands upon his hands, he stretched 00:35:13.619 --> 00:35:15.599 himself upon the child and the flesh of the child 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:20.699 waxed warm. This would be like a really interesting 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:25.519 movie. You know, the kids slowly come into life. 00:35:26.739 --> 00:35:28.380 Then he returned and walked into the house to 00:35:28.380 --> 00:35:31.639 and fro. So he like leaves the prophet's chamber 00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:34.079 where the body is. It's almost like describing 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:38.980 he's doing this over a certain time. Certain 00:35:38.980 --> 00:35:41.579 thing this and that he lays on him. He's he's 00:35:41.579 --> 00:35:44.360 touching him. He's Almost like recess putting 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:47.760 like his breath into his lungs and these right 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:50.239 and then he goes downstairs It seems like this 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:52.019 is like an upper chamber this prophets chambers 00:35:52.019 --> 00:35:55.440 like upper and they're down in the house and 00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:58.639 Then the kids flesh goes from cold, you know 00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:00.679 bodies aren't when they're dead. They're cold 00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:05.300 now starting to get warm again He returned and 00:36:05.300 --> 00:36:07.079 walked in the house to and fro and went up and 00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:10.099 stretched himself upon him. I love this. What 00:36:10.099 --> 00:36:14.260 a weird way to resurrect. Verse 35, and the child 00:36:14.260 --> 00:36:18.820 sneezed seven times. You ever been so happy to 00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:23.699 hear somebody sneeze? I don't even know. And 00:36:23.699 --> 00:36:30.300 the child opened his eyes. If you're a mama, 00:36:32.659 --> 00:36:37.000 What do you say to the baby open in their eyes? 00:36:39.019 --> 00:36:41.860 None of you? Nobody contributes an answer? What 00:36:41.860 --> 00:36:48.480 do you say? Just like that, probably, dude. Hey 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.880 man, this is awesome! And he called Gehazi and 00:36:51.880 --> 00:36:55.059 said, call the Shunammite. So he called her. 00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:58.360 And when she was coming unto him, she said, take 00:36:58.360 --> 00:37:05.800 up thy son. Then she went in and fell at his 00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:09.539 feet and bowed herself to the ground. Whose feet? 00:37:11.480 --> 00:37:18.219 Elisha. I believe Elisha. When she went out to 00:37:18.219 --> 00:37:21.380 him, she fell at his feet, begging for help. 00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:24.320 Here she falls at his feet, I think, in gratitude. 00:37:26.139 --> 00:37:30.300 And took up her son and went out. Now that's 00:37:30.300 --> 00:37:34.329 an interesting thing. She says to him, when he 00:37:34.329 --> 00:37:37.989 sends Gehazi, as the Lord liveth, I'm not ever 00:37:37.989 --> 00:37:43.590 leaving your side. The part that's left out, 00:37:44.130 --> 00:37:46.510 I'm not leaving your side until my son is alive 00:37:46.510 --> 00:37:49.869 again. But she doesn't say that. I'm not leaving 00:37:49.869 --> 00:37:55.010 your side, right? Then he's alive, what happens? 00:37:55.550 --> 00:37:59.170 Then she leaves. The Lord answered her prayers. 00:38:02.599 --> 00:38:05.619 I believe there's a motivation of faith and hope 00:38:05.619 --> 00:38:11.820 here. In the moment of need, in the moment of 00:38:11.820 --> 00:38:15.780 tragedy, in the moment of difficulty, her hope, 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:19.059 I don't even believe really truly her hope was 00:38:19.059 --> 00:38:22.820 in Elisha the man. I believe her hope was in 00:38:22.820 --> 00:38:31.320 God. And that, as far as she understood, Elisha 00:38:31.320 --> 00:38:34.940 was a man that walked with God and would seek 00:38:34.940 --> 00:38:42.679 God to help her out. Now, one of the things that 00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:46.579 we do when we study the Bible is, and one of 00:38:46.579 --> 00:38:51.719 the things, this is like on my brain every day 00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:55.139 as I study trying to present the word of God 00:38:55.139 --> 00:39:03.219 to you. And it should be on your brain as you 00:39:03.219 --> 00:39:12.619 study the Bible. And I put it in two words, authorial 00:39:12.619 --> 00:39:20.480 intent. Authorial, the author, intent. Why is 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:27.139 this written now, here, there? What do we need 00:39:27.139 --> 00:39:31.340 to learn from this story? What did the author, 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:35.300 who's the author? Well, 2 Kings, there's an author 00:39:35.300 --> 00:39:38.980 of 2 Kings, a human author, but there's another 00:39:38.980 --> 00:39:44.460 author. Who is it? The Holy Spirit. This is God's 00:39:44.460 --> 00:39:49.900 Word, right? So, how do we actually know what 00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:52.460 the authorial intent is? How do we know what 00:39:52.460 --> 00:39:53.880 that is? Well, we have to think about who it 00:39:53.880 --> 00:39:56.800 was written to and when it was written. Those 00:39:56.800 --> 00:39:59.030 are all part of it. We have to look at... the 00:39:59.030 --> 00:40:00.949 context, we have to look at all those things. 00:40:02.389 --> 00:40:06.269 But we know that at least in some part, there 00:40:06.269 --> 00:40:09.610 is a part of this that's keeping a record of 00:40:09.610 --> 00:40:12.250 the history of what actually happened. But is 00:40:12.250 --> 00:40:16.269 this just about us knowing a fact that there 00:40:16.269 --> 00:40:19.170 was a guy named Elisha, who is a prophet of God, 00:40:19.289 --> 00:40:22.130 who resurrected a kid? Is that the whole point? 00:40:22.289 --> 00:40:26.139 Well, that's a cool story. What does it mean? 00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:28.340 Well, we kind of understood what it means, but 00:40:28.340 --> 00:40:33.380 what are we supposed to learn from this? Huh? 00:40:34.519 --> 00:40:46.760 What do you think, Dave? Okay. Donna? Who agrees 00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:52.260 that God is pleased with faith? Right? And part 00:40:52.260 --> 00:40:58.719 of faith is I believe bound up here in her generosity, 00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:04.239 right? In the early part, like I want to be around 00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:08.760 the man of God. I want to be around, and for 00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:11.119 our application, I want to be with people who 00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:15.659 are walking with God. I want to walk with God 00:41:15.659 --> 00:41:18.960 myself. I want to... I want to be kind to people 00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:20.699 who are like that. I want to help people who 00:41:20.699 --> 00:41:22.940 are like that. I want to honor people who are 00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:25.280 doing that. So I think there's that motivation 00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:27.960 of honor. I also think there's that motivation 00:41:27.960 --> 00:41:35.039 of humility that like, there is this, there's 00:41:35.039 --> 00:41:41.400 this spirit that understands that grace is exactly 00:41:41.400 --> 00:41:45.139 that grace. That anything I have that's good, 00:41:45.500 --> 00:41:52.699 I don't deserve it. Right? I don't deserve it. 00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:56.059 God gives it to me. Praise the Lord. I'm so thankful 00:41:56.059 --> 00:41:58.840 for it. There's a gratitude that comes from that. 00:42:00.139 --> 00:42:05.159 I believe that we ought not be entitled. I believe 00:42:05.159 --> 00:42:11.179 that. I'm entitled to nothing. Right? I can take 00:42:11.179 --> 00:42:14.039 God in His Word. God said, if I call Him the 00:42:14.039 --> 00:42:16.840 name of the Lord, I'll be saved. And so... I 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:19.480 feel entitled to that only in that he promised 00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:21.239 it and I'm taking it as a word, but I didn't 00:42:21.239 --> 00:42:24.659 get that because I deserve it. God wasn't like, 00:42:24.699 --> 00:42:26.639 well, that prayer was fancy enough. Good, you 00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:28.380 did a good prayer. I'll give you something. That's 00:42:28.380 --> 00:42:32.340 not how that works. Does that make sense? Lord, 00:42:32.440 --> 00:42:33.900 remember me when you come into your kingdom. 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:36.260 That's all it took for the man on the cross, 00:42:36.260 --> 00:42:41.699 right? So there's this example of humility. And 00:42:41.699 --> 00:42:46.539 then there's this example of faith. that if something 00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:53.739 bad happens, I'm going to go to the source of 00:42:53.739 --> 00:42:56.260 blessing and that source of blessing is God. 00:42:56.940 --> 00:43:00.619 Does that make sense? And I'm going to do that. 00:43:01.400 --> 00:43:07.119 All these motivations, humility, honor, faith, 00:43:07.199 --> 00:43:11.239 hope, all of these motivations prohibit greed. 00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:17.900 Does that make sense? If your motivation is humility, 00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:23.500 then a humble person, you can't be humble and 00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:25.960 greedy at the same time. Does that make sense? 00:43:26.739 --> 00:43:31.079 Greed says, I deserve this. Give it to me, it's 00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:36.579 mine. Humility says, I'm thankful for this, I 00:43:36.579 --> 00:43:39.940 don't deserve it. Thank you for giving it to 00:43:39.940 --> 00:43:45.059 me. Does that make sense? And then faith and 00:43:45.059 --> 00:43:48.260 hope, it's like, I hope for it, I'm looking for 00:43:48.260 --> 00:43:54.500 it, it's not in me. Greed sabotages the kind 00:43:54.500 --> 00:44:01.059 of receiving that comes from God by faith. Money, 00:44:01.940 --> 00:44:05.579 this is one commentator put it this way, money, 00:44:05.780 --> 00:44:10.159 paint, fame, material goods, guilt. Belonging 00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:13.019 often move people to act either positively or 00:44:13.019 --> 00:44:17.380 negatively. These are short -term motivators 00:44:17.380 --> 00:44:22.000 that are horizontal in nature. Yet as a Christian, 00:44:22.619 --> 00:44:25.400 we are called to a higher standard, to a vertical 00:44:25.400 --> 00:44:29.619 motivator. God calls us to be motivated by fear 00:44:29.619 --> 00:44:33.260 of Him, which in turn motivates us to honor, 00:44:34.019 --> 00:44:43.820 to humility, and to hope. And so I think sometimes 00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:46.500 God allows us, and it's such a blessing when 00:44:46.500 --> 00:44:50.579 God allows us to be generous, to work in people's 00:44:50.579 --> 00:44:55.559 lives. And I believe I've seen it my whole life. 00:44:57.059 --> 00:44:59.519 Different people, different things. Seen it in 00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:02.400 my parents, seen it for my parents when people 00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:04.159 have done things for them, seen it in my own 00:45:04.159 --> 00:45:10.119 life. You've heard people say it, you can't out 00:45:10.119 --> 00:45:13.719 give God. You ever heard that before? That's 00:45:13.719 --> 00:45:18.059 not like God's a slot machine and if you put 00:45:18.059 --> 00:45:20.739 the coin in, you get triple cherries every time. 00:45:21.079 --> 00:45:24.639 That's not what that means. What it means is 00:45:24.639 --> 00:45:27.619 when you give for the right reasons with the 00:45:27.619 --> 00:45:32.539 right motivation, God resists the proud, but 00:45:32.539 --> 00:45:36.980 he gives grace to the humble. God resists the 00:45:36.980 --> 00:45:42.639 proud. but He gives grace to the generous. The 00:45:42.639 --> 00:45:46.559 kid that's entitled, you owe me ice cream, Dad. 00:45:47.940 --> 00:45:51.260 I want ice cream. I don't want to give that kid 00:45:51.260 --> 00:45:56.119 ice cream. But the kid that's like, Dad, you 00:45:56.119 --> 00:45:59.059 work so hard, thank you. Thanks for being a good 00:45:59.059 --> 00:46:01.559 dad. You know what I think? Let's go get ice 00:46:01.559 --> 00:46:07.130 cream. Let's go. Right? Let's go get salad. Come 00:46:07.130 --> 00:46:12.070 on, salad. Cucumbers. That was for you, Meg. 00:46:14.150 --> 00:46:20.030 We'll even let you have ranch dip. Woo! Right? 00:46:20.530 --> 00:46:23.710 We resist the proud and show grace to the humble. 00:46:24.429 --> 00:46:31.929 God does it way more, right? And so, can I, can 00:46:31.929 --> 00:46:35.469 I just encourage all of us? to be open -handed 00:46:35.469 --> 00:46:40.269 with our lives. To just be like, hey, God gave 00:46:40.269 --> 00:46:43.969 it to me, and since he's a source of everything 00:46:43.969 --> 00:46:47.989 I have, if I see somebody in need, I'm gonna 00:46:47.989 --> 00:46:51.949 give if I can, when I can, sometimes even if 00:46:51.949 --> 00:46:55.530 it hurts, because I believe that God can supply 00:46:55.530 --> 00:46:57.429 my need according to his riches and glory in 00:46:57.429 --> 00:47:00.449 Christ Jesus, right? And so if I'm open -handed 00:47:00.449 --> 00:47:04.989 with what I have and I give, I don't do it because 00:47:04.989 --> 00:47:08.389 I expect God to give back to me because I'm entitled 00:47:08.389 --> 00:47:11.590 and He owes me. But I just know how my God is 00:47:11.590 --> 00:47:15.289 and how my Father is. And He's loving and gracious 00:47:15.289 --> 00:47:19.510 and kind and He wants to bless me. And if He 00:47:19.510 --> 00:47:24.090 doesn't, He's already promised me heaven. If 00:47:24.090 --> 00:47:28.969 I die, listen, I'm not going hungry. But if I 00:47:28.969 --> 00:47:32.420 die because of that, I know in the next life 00:47:32.420 --> 00:47:35.659 He's going to be so generous. Not because I deserve 00:47:35.659 --> 00:47:39.719 it, but because He promised it. Isn't that good? 00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:43.800 Let's be generous. Are you behind me? Just close 00:47:43.800 --> 00:47:47.139 your eyes with me. God, I love you tonight. I 00:47:47.139 --> 00:47:50.519 thank you for this example of this woman who 00:47:50.519 --> 00:47:56.179 had faith, faith enough to believe in your goodness, 00:47:57.699 --> 00:48:03.280 faith enough to honor and be generous. because 00:48:03.280 --> 00:48:07.699 she saw you working in a man, faith enough to 00:48:07.699 --> 00:48:11.820 be humble, to not be demanding for your blessing, 00:48:12.059 --> 00:48:14.820 but to receive it as a good gift undeserved. 00:48:16.860 --> 00:48:18.980 I pray that you'd help us to be those kind of 00:48:18.980 --> 00:48:21.860 people of faith, to have the faith enough to 00:48:21.860 --> 00:48:25.500 be willing to be generous, to be willing to be 00:48:25.500 --> 00:48:28.780 generous, even when it costs us, because we believe. 00:48:29.380 --> 00:48:33.699 that you are the source of our needs, not us. 00:48:34.639 --> 00:48:37.780 I pray that you help us to do that. We love you. 00:48:37.860 --> 00:48:39.699 We thank you for all you do for us. I pray now 00:48:39.699 --> 00:48:43.679 that as we enter into this prayer time that you 00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:46.019 would have your will and way. We love you in 00:48:46.019 --> 00:48:47.599 Jesus' name. Amen.