Life and Death

Now you might be thinking why should this passage about a woman who emigrates for seven years and then applies for resettlement, about a king getting an ear full from a prophet’s servant and about a coup in a near eastern kingdom concern us today? Well the answer is that they all reveal your God to you. As Dale Ralph Davis puts it, in his excellent commentary on 2 Kings, “This is the business of Scripture, and we must always come to the word of God with these God focused spectacles on.”

So what is revealed to us about our God here? Well essentially that he is the life giver as we’ll see from v1-6, where four times there’s a reference to Elisha restoring the Shunammite woman’s son to life as we saw back in 2 Kings 4; and the death bringer as we’ll see from v7-15. Yes God is merciful, gracious & kind but also judges justly. So first


1. A ‘CUP’ OF KINDNESS v1-2

1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years." 2The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines 7 years.

Why this cup of kindness? Why does Elisha warn and advise this woman? Well it goes back to chapter 4. There in v9-10 the same woman, recognising that Elisha was a holy man of God, wanted to make some accommodation for him. Yes it involved a bit of a house makeover, a bit of changing rooms but he was the Lord’s servant. She didn’t do it for a reward but simply because he was a prophet. So it was an Old Testament case of Matthew 10:41-42, which says this:

41Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.

God doesn’t miss cups of cold water, and he remembers this woman’s kindness to his servant by granting kindness to her. And v42 of Matthew 10 reminds us that the object of such kindness need not be a prophet. Matthew 25:40 teaches that it may be the most obscure of Christ’s people. Look at that verse:

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me…’

What cup of kindness have we shown recently? What small kindness are we going to show to our brothers and sisters in Christ, to those in our Home Group, to those looking for work and perhaps struggling financially, to those who are new to the church, to students who may be far from home and suffering some homesickness, to those who are the Lord’s servants? God won’t miss them. To quote the fifth beatitude: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (Mt 5:7) And a small kindness carries a massive encouragement. Small things are important in our care for others: popping in to see those who are lonely, remembering someone’s birthday, phoning, emailing or texting those who need encouragement, showing hospitality. God’s kindness in his famine warning system would have meant such a lot to the woman and a cup of kindness we show can mean such a lot to the other person. It reminds them that God hasn’t forgotten them and does care for them. It should be part of our witness as a church. Kindness is often in such short supply today. Martin Niemoller was a leader in the Confessing Church in Germany during the Nazi terror. One day he was taken away by the secret police. Mrs Niemoller was now by herself, having no idea if or when her husband would return. After a short time she heard some singing and gingerly walked over to the window. There below she saw the women’s choir of her church. They’d heard of their pastor’s arrest and had come to sing to her. It didn’t release her husband but it was a small cup of kindness that said she was not forgotten. The Lord’s tokens are often like that aren’t they? They give us just enough to keep us on our feet. Secondly,


2. A RESPONSE THAT IS FASCINATION NOT FAITH v3-6

3At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her house and land. 4The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, "Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done." 5Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life." 6The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, "Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.

“Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done,” said the king. Tell is the key word in this section. It’s a word that appears three times in v4-6. What does the king want to be told? He wants to be told about all the amazing things Elisha had done, including what he perhaps had only heard rumours about – Elisha restoring the dead to life. Amazingly while Gehazi was telling him about the woman and her son whom Elisha had brought back to life, the woman and her son suddenly appeared crying out to the king about her house and land. What timing! This was no mere coincidence. No. Here we see God’s providential care unfolding. The account, the proof and the appeal all at the same time worked so well for the woman and son. She was then able to confirm Gehazi’s report. And this so impressed the king that he assigned an official to handle her case and to ensure that not only her land and house were restored but even her losses from her farm’s produce. God not only revives her son but he also provides generously for them too. Have we experienced God’s providential timing, care and provision? Perhaps we didn’t even recognise it at the time but only as we look back. We need to praise him and continue to trust him. He is in control. And his timing is perfect. Perhaps for some of us the new session of Celebrate Recovery is God’s providential care for us at this time as Sarah discovered.

But what of the king? He’s now heard testimony of all the great deeds of Elisha. He personally knew of God’s mercies as we’ve seen in chapters 6&7. And also mighty acts of deliverance, even from death. But how will he respond to this great testimony of the grace of God? Back in chapter 3 Elisha had accused him of false allegiance and we also learn there that he had not made a single-minded commitment to the Lord. Now he’s very impressed with the testimony of God’s power through Elisha. Impressed enough to give the woman justice. Yes he’s fascinated with the testimony but he remains unchanged. 2 Kings 3:2-3:

2…[Ahab’s son Joram] did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. 3Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

So the king was curious but not committed. He was attracted to Elisha’s works but not submissive to Elisha’s Lord. It was fascination not faith. This is a sad but common reaction. At one IVF (now UCCF) annual conference in Trinity College Cambridge, Martyn Lloyd–Jones gave the presidential address on the raising of Jairus’ daughter from Luke 8. He stressed the limitations of human knowledge and the power of Christ. The Master of Trinity College, the historian G.M. Trevelyan, was there. He was not a believer but afterwards greeted and complimented Lloyd-Jones: ‘Sir’, he said, ‘it has been given to you to speak with great power.’ But that, as far as we know, is how far Trevelyan went. And that is the Jehoram syndrome. One can recognize something of the power and pull of the gospel without embracing that gospel. There is a vast gulf between being charmed by the truth and being converted to the truth.

I wonder if there’s anyone here this morning who is charmed by the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ but hasn’t yet been converted to the truth. Please do keep coming. Consider coming to Christianity Explored and asking your questions. There’s a flyer about the next courses with your service papers. There’s a Christianity Explored Taster Session with a meal for all on Thursday October 8th and for undergraduates and internationals later on in October. And I pray that you won’t remain simply fascinated with the Christian faith but that you will put your faith in Christ as Saviour and Lord before it’s too late and know the fullness of life he brings. You see he died on the cross that we might live. True Christianity is not a living death as some people think but a rescue from an eternal living death in hell to eternal life with God. So thirdly>


3. A SAD NECESSITY v7-15

Now there have been some debates over some of the details of some of these verses that I haven’t got time to go into. Suffice to say (v10&13) that the Lord shows Elisha that King Ben-hadad will die and Hazael will be King. You see Elisha is now setting Hazael apart as the Lord’s instrument to bring judgment on Israel. The Lord had said this to Elijah back in 1 Kings 19:15-18, some of which was fulfilled through Elisha:

15…When you get [to the Desert of Damascus], anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.

In 2 Kings chapters 2-7 Elisha had served primarily as a minister of the grace of God, but in chapters 8-10 he’ll appear as a minister of the judgment of God. Israel is sinning away her day of grace. So the emphasis in this section is in v11-12. Let’s begin with v11:

He [Elisha] stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael felt ashamed. Then the man of God began to weep.

One of my Christian youth group leaders, John Bullimore, was a barrister who, it was said, could stare defendants into admission of guilt. At the youth group it seemed that he could also stare people into the kingdom of God, into repentance and faith in Christ! Elisha stared down Hazael until Hazael felt ashamed. Elisha knew what Hazael would do. Then the man of God began to weep. Why? Look at v12:

Why is my lord weeping?" asked Hazael. "Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites," he answered. "You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.

These are the terrible atrocities of war. Hazael is no longer ashamed. He is both ecstatic and puzzled (v13). This horror would look great on his CV but he can’t understand how he’ll be in a position to achieve it. Elisha tells him he’ll be king over Syria and that means curtains for Ben-hadad (v15) as Hazael decides to assist with the fulfilment of the prophetic vision. But let’s go back to Elisha’s weeping. Elisha’s tears are important. Why? Because in Elisha’s attitude we see Yahweh’s attitude and Jesus’ attitude. Perhaps some of us think that God enjoys judging those who turn away from him in sinful rebellion? Well in Ezekiel 33:11 we read:

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?

The Lord God would far rather that those who turn away from him would repent and put their faith in him and live. The giving of his Son, Jesus Christ, to death on the cross for you and me is proof of that. And Luke 19:41-42 tells us that:

41As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

The Lord God is just and righteous and so will and must judge an apostate people. But he’s so slow to anger and full of mercy that there’s an element of divine sadness in his judgment. One writer comments:

He will weep over the lost as He did over Jerusalem. It will be something to be said for ever in heaven, “Jesus wept as He said, Depart, you cursed.” The shower of fire and brimstone was wet with the tears of God as it fell, for God has no pleasure in the eternal death of him that dies.

Hazael is excited about the future when he will batter Israel. But Elisha is depressed. He knows there must be a Hazael as the Lord’s instrument to judge his faithless people. But for Elisha judgment is both necessary and sad. Elisha’s tears are sent from above, for that’s how the Lord views it. There’s no fiendish delight in God’s judgment. This is our God, the God who mingles his tears with the fire and brimstone. Do we share God’s tears for the lost, for the people of this city and nation?
2 Peter 3:9 makes it quite clear that God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. If you’ve not done so already will you turn to Christ in repentance and faith and have eternal life and so avoid God’s judgment and eternal death and hell while you still can? You see God can’t simply sweep our sin – our rebellion against him - under the carpet. It has to be punished. The sword of judgment must fall. The good news is that the sword of judgment fell on Jesus Christ on the cross. There he took the punishment you and I deserve for our sin. So what will you do with your sin? Will you allow Jesus to deal with it at the cross or will you take it with you to the grave and to the judgment that must fall?