Dr Paul Allen

Rembrandt — The Departure of the Shunammite Woman (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) 2 Kings 4:8-37 ; 8:1-6  Just a few miles north of Jezreel , where Jezebel's story had drawn to its grim conclusion, lived a wealthy Israelite woman whose sharp eye kept track of travelers from Nazareth to Jerusalem. One of the more colorful characters who frequented the road outside her house was Elisha , the prophet who succeeded Elijah . One day the Shunammite woman invited Elisha to linger for a meal. Afterward, she said to her husband, "Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us." Moved by her kindness, Elisha inquired, through his servant, Gehazi , whether he could use his influence with Israel's king on her behalf. But the woman wasn't looking for favors at court, so Elisha pressed his servant, saying, "What, then, can be done for her?" Gehazi merely pointed out t...

Mural - Elisha (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In Matthew 11:14 , Jesus recalls the promise in Malachi 4:5 , and names John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come. If Jesus is the one who comes after John the Baptist, can we draw a parallel to the one who came after Elijah? If John is Elijah, does that mean Jesus is Elisha ? If we look closer it is actually possible to find an uncanny resemblance between the man of God who came after Elijah in the book of Kings, and the Son of God who came after the second Elijah, the Baptizer. Not only do their names have similar meanings (compare Elisha—‘God is salvation’—with Jesus—‘Yahweh will save’) but the respective accounts of their lives show clear parallels. To begin with, their ministries commence with a ‘handover’ scene at the Jordan River . Elisha receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit having just passed through the river Jordan ( 2 Kgs 2:6-12 ). He then sees Elijah taken up into heaven by a whirlwind. Jesus, in turn, meets Jo...

Gehazi attempts to awaken the son of the Sunammite woman with the staff of Elisha (2 Kings 4.29-31), engraving by Bernhard Rode before 1780. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What is the eternal destiny of infants who die before reaching a condition of accountability? Spurgeon used it as his text when he preached a sermon entitled, “Infant Salvation.” The verse is 2 Kings 4:26: “Is it well with the child?” And she answered, “It is well.” Spurgeon explains the context of this verse:  This good Shunammite was asked by Gehazi , whether it was well with herself. She was mourning over a lost child, and yet she said, “It is well;” she felt that the trial would surely be blessed. “Is it well with thy husband?” He was old and stricken in years, and was ripening for death , yet she said, “ Yes , it is well.” Then came the question about her child, it was dead at home, and the enquiry would renew her griefs, “Is it well with the child?” Yet she said, “It is well,” perhaps so answ...