THE SHUNAMMITE PRINCIPLE

THE SHUNAMMITE PRINCIPLE

There is a story in the book of 2Kings about the Shunammite woman and Elisha, the man of God. You may read about her in chapter 4 and again in chapter 8. This woman was greatly blessed by God – seven times over – and there is reason for this great outpouring in her life.

Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he turned to there to eat food. 2Kings 4:8

The Shunammite was a “nameless” yet well-known woman who recognized the man of God and wished to serve him. She opened her house up to him and showed him hospitality.

And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. 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 lamp-stand; and it shall be, when he comes to us that he can turn in there. 2Kings 4:9-10

She wished to go one step further and make a place in her household for the man of God. Elisha stopped in for refreshment when he passed through the district. She actually built onto her home a place specifically reserved for him. This wasn't just a guest bedroom, but a “member-of-the-family” room. It was a permanent place reserved for the man of God. The plain message here, of course, is to honor those who are in ministry and support them monetarily, with our prayers, etc. But there is a deeper spiritual principle to glean from the Shunammite: if we want the miracles and blessing to come into our lives, we need to make a permanent place for the Spirit of God. In the day of this story, the average person heard from God through the prophets, we have the Holy Spirit as our counselor and guide. Meeting with God only on Sundays is a guest bedroom. The Holy Spirit is like the wind which blows where it wills. (John 3: 8) The Spirit comes and stays for a short time, but does not have a permanent place to dwell unless we make the place for Him.

Miracle #1: She receives a son.

At some point Elisha was resting in his room and decided to ask the woman if he could do anything for her:

And he said to him (Gahazi), “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.” 2Kings 4:13

Elisha offered to put in a good word for her before the king, himself. The man of God has the ear of the king. The Holy Spirit has the ear of the King – and scripture states that he intercedes for us:

And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Rom 8:26-27

What would you have the man of God speak to the King for you? What would you have the Holy Spirit intercede for you?

Elisha was willing to do for her because she had taken the time to be careful for him. She had created a place for him to dwell and had extended every hospitality to him and his servant. Her response was indirect. She did not speak what was on her heart – the fact that she and her husband had no son. Gahazi had to speak it out for her.

Then he said, “At this season next year you shall embrace a son.” and she said, “No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.” 2Kings 4:16

She could hardly believe that this thing could come true in her life. She did indeed receive this miracle from God. The son grew and there came a day that the son was in the field with his father.

Miracle #2: Her son is raised from the dead.

The child was in the field working with his father when he complained to his father of a severe headache. The father had a servant carry him to his mother and there he died in her arms.

And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door behind him and went out. 2Kings 4:21

She put him in the prophet's room – not the boy's room, not her room, not the living room. She took this gift from God and returned to the place reserved in her household for the man of God. The place that she heard from God. And then she sought him out. Elisha was not staying with her when this happened. She determined to go find him and notice her husband's reaction:

And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath.” And she said, “It will be well.” 2Kings 4:23

Her husband did not understand why she would seek out the man of God in a time other than the traditional time of meeting – the sabbath of course is the day of the week reserved for God and we understand that. The new moon was ordained by God as the start of each month for the nation of Israel and as such was a holy day. The Shunammite understood that there were other times when it was vital to reach out to God – her need would not wait for the usual times to come around. Her need was immediate, and she sought out the path to God.

Elisha saw the Shunammite coming, but God had hidden her purposes from him. She had to come to his feet and intercede for her son. Elisha immediately came to her aid – as a matter of fact he sent his servant, Gahazi, ahead with the staff so something could be done immediately. But it took the presence of Elisha laying himself on the boy to bring him back to life. The Shunammite basically said to Elisha – God gave him to me, God has to keep him alive.

Miracle #3 & #4: She and her household are preserved in the famine.

Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it shall even come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 2Kings 8:1-2

Elisha knew that God was planning a famine for the land and gave the warning to the Shunammite. She took this warning to heart and found a place to stay. Miracle number 3 was that she was rescued from the famine. Did Elisha warn others? Not known. It is certainly not stated that any others took flight from this famine. Miracle number 4 was that the sworn enemy of Israel gave shelter to her for seven years. King David would later also stay among the Philistines, but he had to pretend to be insane in order to dwell there in safety. Normally this would be called jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. But she dwelt among the Philistines for seven years and then returned to her own land. She knew that after seven years her property would be forfeit under the law of Israel. She still had the faith in the word of Elisha to abandon her prominent place in the community and flee to an enemy nation. She trusted the word of God through Elisha and acted upon it.

Miracle #5: God's perfect timing.

The woman left the Philistines at the end of seven years and came to the king to petition the return of her land.

Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And it came about, as he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, that behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” 2Kings 8:4-5

Just as Gahazi was speaking the story to the king, in comes the woman to petition him for her property. “Just so happens” are not coincidences, they are God's appointments. God miraculously timed her appearance to be at a point when the king's mercy on her could flow out. We can experience the mercy of the unmerciful when God's timing is involved. Her obedience to the word spoken by Elisha resulted in the salvation of her household during the time of famine and her appearance at court at just the right time.

Miracle #6 & #7: The restoration of her property and the wealth it produced for seven years.

When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.” 2Kings 8:6

God had so prepared the heart of the king, that not only did he miraculously restore her property to her, but also added all the wealth that was produced during that seven year period that she was away.

Let's review: The Shunammite received her heart's desire, which was then crushed, but restored. She received divine direction to survive her circumstances. She received divine protection in the midst of her enemies. She received divine appointment. She received divine restoration. Who among us would not wish for all of that?

The Shunammite was positioned due to her obedience to the word of God through Elisha. We can be positioned for the blessings of God when we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as supplied through God's word, the ministers of God, and our private prayer time with God. But first we must make a permanent place in our household for God to dwell in. The blessings on the Shunammite woman grew out of her determination to have the man of God dwell in her midst. Make place in your household for God and be greatly blessed.

Marie St. Laurent