2nd Kings chapter 4 verse 8 says, And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. And it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?' And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door, and he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life. Now, about 500 years before Elisha, in a city 400 miles to the north, pagan priests from a city called Ugarit taught their congregations a story about their god, who was named Baal. And it goes like this. A great king named Daniel, not that Daniel, but different Daniel, spent his days defending widows and orphans from their oppressors. Yet Daniel had no heir. He made offerings at the temple for six days, and on the 7th, the god Baal asked the supreme god El to provide Daniel a son to which El agreed. So, El may be supreme, but Baal is also very powerful in this Baal religion. Daniel's prayers and sacrifices are answered, according to this myth, with the birth of a son which he named Achat. The reason Baal goes to El on Daniel's behalf is because in that religion, El is not only the father of gods, but he is the father who grants offspring to children, or offspring to humans. His primary role in Baalism was the continuation of family life. The Baal religion and mythology greatly influenced the religions of the nations around Israel, the nations of Canaan. For example, during the days of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Old Testament often refers to the true and living God as El. The word El simply means supreme God. And the argument was over whose L was truly supreme. And what's interesting is in the accounts of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the book of Genesis, Jehovah is not depicted as a god of fire and brimstone like he is in the book of Exodus. He is depicted primarily as the god of childbearing. If you consider the big stories of the book of Genesis, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, from the first chapters of Genesis to the last, God primarily exalts himself as the Almighty El, the one who gives offspring to humans. And of course, in all of those cases, the offspring was a miracle. In miraculous fashion, God proves He is the true God who truly wields the power of childbirth. He is the Almighty El. And nothing has changed in the days of Elisha. Through the centuries, the Baal religion gradually gripped the psyche of Israel, as we have seen from previous chapters. And it has come to a head now under the reign of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. For we are told that Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ephbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria." He basically turned Baalism into the national religion of Israel. But at that moment, the Almighty El, who is Jehovah, was raising up a prophet named Elijah, through whom he would demonstrate his superiority and his one and only-ness. And you might remember, through many miracles, Elijah demonstrated the glory of Jehovah over Baal without ever convincing Ahab and Jezebel. And Elisha, Elisha has now taken up that mantle from Elijah, but he is more concerned now with demonstrating Jehovah's glory to commoners, not to royalty. This was important and encouraging for those faithful Jews in exile. For from their worldly perspective, They've been conquered, they've been taken as slaves living in Assyria and Babylon. It looks like Baal won the battle. But Elisha's ministry among the common people of Israel shows that Jehovah is still the Almighty El giving life to his faithful people even though he has cut off the nation as a nation. He has cut off the nation, but he has not cut off the people. The story of the Shunammite woman, who is not a queen, was not only edifying to the family of the woman, obviously, but it was edifying for all of those Jews in exile for whom the Book of Second Kings was originally written in a time when it looked like the foreign gods had won. And it is also edifying to us today in that we learn that Jesus Christ is the Father of life. He is, as we know now, the Almighty El. So let us pray. Heavenly Father, We ask that the Almighty El would be with us this morning in a very special way, bringing life to our dead hearts, bringing glorified life to our dead bodies through the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray that in spite of the weakness of the speaker, that you would show yourself strong in the hearts of the people who are here this morning as well as those who are participating online. Pray these in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, amen. So the most important part of this passage is that the woman opens her home in the Lord's name. Elisha often traveled through the city of Shunem. Unlike his predecessor Elijah, who would just sort of appear and disappear and lived in caves, and Elisha keeps a much more public ministry and he travels by ordinary means. One of his habits was to pass through the city of Shunem, for it says in verse 8, if you look there, and it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem where was a great woman and she constrained him to eat bread and so it was that as oft as he passed by he turned in thither to eat bread." Now the regularity of his visits caused the Shunammite woman's husband to question her sudden visit to Elisha later. If you look down at verse 22 says, 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 today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath. See, the husband knows that Elisha keeps a regular schedule of things. In other words, he'll be by. He always comes by. He was a regular visitor. And the Shunammite woman marked this man of God. If you look at verse 9, And she said unto her husband, Behold now I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. had Elisha been an ordinary person the people of Shunem would still be obliged to show him hospitality because according to God's law and according to Jewish custom and indeed the customs of the entire ancient Near East travelers were precious and they were guarded and protected by the communities through which they traveled. Traveling was dangerous and dirty. There were no hotels. And the woman probably fed numerous travelers as they went through Shunem. In those days, if you traveled somewhere, it was only because of something bad happening something for work. But Elisha was different. He distinguished himself as a man of God. Now this title, man of God, belongs also to Moses and David and Elijah, but the Bible uses this title for Elisha more than any other. but often refers to Elisha as a man of God. And this is not surprising, seeing that God gifted Elisha with a double portion of the Holy Spirit. Remember back in chapter two, Elisha said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. So it's not surprising that Elisha stands out as a man of God. And the Shunammite woman provides permanent hospitality for this man of God. If you look at verse 9, And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. And it shall be when he cometh to us that he shall turn in thither. As a good work unto God, on behalf of the man of God, she and her husband open their home to Elisha on a permanent basis. The narrator goes out of his way to describe the furniture as well. Besides a bed, there was a table, a candlestick, and a stool. And the ESV tells us it was a chair and that's because the Hebrew word can be translated stool or chair. What's interesting is that chairs in those days were not common. Chairs were uncommon in private homes but they were irreplaceable in palaces where kings lived. See, normal, ordinary citizens, they wouldn't sit on a chair. They would lounge on a couch. That was the ancient Near East way. You would lounge on a couch. But there was one place where you always had chairs, and that was in the palace. They were called thrones. And in fact, in the Bible, the word is normally translated throne. It's only once translated stool, and only a few times as a chair. It always refers to a throne. And what other place do you find a table, a candlestick, and a throne? The Temple in Jerusalem. The dwelling place, interestingly, that she built for the man of God, Elisha, resembles the dwelling place for God himself. She built a mini-temple in her house, and the woman opened her home to the man of God in God's name. And what did Elisha do? Elisha opened the woman's womb in God's name. Elisha avails himself of her hospitality and he is moved. If you look at verse 11, it says, And it fell on a day that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he called her, she stood before him, and he said unto him, say now unto her, behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. Just as the woman marked Elisha's heart of service, He marked hers. Elisha offered earthly blessings in return. He offered audience with kings and generals. Just as Elijah had asked Elisha what he could pray for on his behalf, Elisha now offers what he might pray for on her behalf. And like Elijah, the woman asks not for earthly things. Elisha didn't ask for earthly things either. He asked for a double portion of the Spirit. And in fact, the woman asks for nothing in return. She does not want any earthly things. But Gehazi somehow knows what is in her heart. And no doubt her childlessness, her barrenness, would have come up around the dinner table with all those dinners that they had together. They got to know each other pretty well. Gehazi has noticed she doesn't have a son. She's childless. But she did not ask for a son. But Gehazi knew that about her and knew that was on her heart. So if you look. If you look at verse 15, it says, and he said, call her, and when he had called her, she stood in the door and he said, about this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived and bare a son at this season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life. God used Elisha to bring the blessing of life to the barren Shunammite woman. Aside from his own presence, there is no greater blessing than the presence of a new life in the bosom of a husband and wife. After glorifying God, fruitfulness is the second reason God created mankind. Back in Genesis chapter 1, it says, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him. Male and female created he them, and God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. Elisha certainly understood this fact, and that is why he says, about this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. not just have a son, but embrace a son. The blessing of a baby is not primarily in the name he carries, or in the labor that he might provide someday, or even in the grandchildren that he might someday supply, or the taxable income he might reduce. The blessing of a baby is to love and to hold, to embrace. And it is a blessing that only God can give. And when he gives it, God is glorified among the people. Seeing how God created mankind in his own image, He is always glorified in the birth of a child. Every single time a child is born into this world, God is glorified because that baby is the image of God. As James says, all men are made after the similitude of God. And the psalmist says, I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. And everywhere in the Bible, children are described as a blessing of life and love, especially to mothers, and even more so to barren mothers. For the psalm says, he maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord. But God was glorified all the more in that the Shunammite and her husband were unable to conceive naturally. Look at verse 14. And he said, what then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. Ouch. That's not a nice thing to say about a husband. But anyway, whether the woman herself was barren, we're not told. We are told that her marriage was fruitless. and childbirth was so long in waiting that they had basically given up hope. And in that culture, women were not childless by choice. Fruitfulness was considered a curse and no doubt brought the woman great shame. Despite her greatness and her generosity, the community would have marked her as cursed. Therefore, her child would bring even greater glory to God in that it occurred supernaturally through the word of Elisha." Her story singularly glorifies God and was therefore included in the Hebrew Bible. If you think about it, we don't even know her name. We don't know her husband's name. will never know her son's name, for she was not important in an earthly way. We only know the obscure town that she lived in, the town of Shunem, which we're not even sure where it is. Yet the account of the Shunemite woman in 2 Kings chapter 4 continues to encourage God's people for thousands of years and thousands of miles away, even here in Redlands, California. God is glorified. And the woman who gets all the glory is not royalty, but a common person. Once again, this is important to realize. She is not a queen. She's not the wife of some priest. She's not even one of the mothers of the covenant. She's just an ordinary woman. And since the days of King Saul, God and his prophets have been working primarily with the kings and queens of Israel. With the apostasy of Ahab and Jezebel, a seismic shift brought the Holy Spirit's work primarily to common people. The kings and queens and religious leaders of Israel forsook Jehovah in favor of Baal in spite of Elijah's miracles, therefore Jehovah had cast off Israel as a nation and took his government straight to the people. The faithful remnant of Israelites would suffer under idolatrous leadership for another 200 years or so, and then suffer under the Assyrians and the Babylonians for hundreds of years more. And even when Zerubbabel led the faithful remnant back to the promised land, they had to wait hundreds more for the arrival of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. And during that time, when God worked in the lives of Israel, it was with individual people, not through kings and queens. This too glorifies God even more, for it was his intention all along that his people make him their king and not their fellows. And as much as God receives the glory in the blessing of the Shunammite woman, something even more glorious was still to come. Jesus Christ grants heavenly life to all individuals who open their heart to Him. Jesus Christ grants heavenly life to all individuals who open their heart to Him. As the Shunammite woman, those who open their hearts and homes to God, Jesus Christ will gladly take up residence with them. As wonderful as Elijah's miracle was on Mount Carmel and as miraculous as Elijah's miracle was in the giving of life to the woman of Shunem, that woman's son was still born in sin. He was subject to the same curse as all mankind and the misery that comes with it. If you want to look ahead at verse 18, for example, I'll give you a quick preview. Verse 18, 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 Elad, 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. From an earthly perspective, the birth of a child is one of God's greatest blessings, yet from a heavenly perspective, it is mired in corruption because of sin. Elisha may have been the man of God, able to turn a pot of oil into vessels full and an empty womb into a haven for human fetus, but he could not remove the curse of sin. He could no more grant the child glorified life any more than he could grant that for himself. Because all mankind, even Elisha, is born under the curse and misery of death. Someone greater than Elisha, the man of God, is required. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the true prophet, of whom Elisha is merely a symbol. And Christ came to this world to remove the curse and rebirth us into glorified life. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Being fully God and fully man, Christ suffered earthly death on our behalf, was buried, and rose again on the third day that we might enjoy glorified life in Him. As the Apostle Paul says, for since by man came death, and that man meaning Adam, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, meaning Jesus Christ, for as in Adam all die, meaning earthly death, we all die an earthly death, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. In other words, in heavenly life, a glorified life. Christ gives glorified life to all those who open their hearts to him. If you would please turn with me to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter three in verse 20. Revelation chapter 3 verse 20, Jesus says, Somehow The Shunammite woman knew the truth of these words hundreds of years, thousands of years before Jesus spoke them. It is an eternal truth. And that goes to show that Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and he will be tomorrow. She opened her heart to God by opening her heart to the man of God, Elisha, and he took up residence in her house. When we open our hearts to God by opening our hearts to the God-man, Jesus Christ, He will likewise take up residence in our heart permanently. Just as the woman marked Elisha's comings and goings and invited him in, we must also mark the movements of Christ, His goings and comings, and invite Him in. We must hear His knock. How could the Shunammite woman show hospitality to Elisha if she was too busy with the cares of this world to even notice his work? How could she have opened the door to him if she could not hear his knock over her own curses and careless conversations? How can we hear his knock if we do not avail ourselves of the means of his voice in this world, which is the Word of God? How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? But the audible syllables of each of God's words fall on deaf ears without the added power of the Holy Spirit. When we shut out the Holy Spirit, we shut out the effectiveness of God's Word in our hearts. Think about it now. Ahab repeatedly heard the words of Elijah and Elisha, yet remained unrepentantly deaf. You see, casting down our idols goes hand-in-hand with picking up the meaning of God's wisdom. Jesus says, take heed therefore how ye hear, for whosoever hath to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken, even that which he seemeth to have. And then we must open to Christ. If the Shunammite woman had stopped answering at Elisha's knocking, what would the prophet eventually do? he would eventually stop knocking, right? It was a good thing for the woman to invite Elisha to dine with her family the first time, the second time, the third time. It was a good thing for her to build a permanent add-on to her house for Elisha to dwell on. Yet these acts of goodness and obedience garnered nothing if she suddenly ceased to open the door. He might knock again the next time he passes through Shunem, but eventually he would stop knocking and go somewhere else. We must keep the door of our hearts continually open to the movement of Jesus Christ. And just know that when he comes in, which he will, he comes in for fellowship. It says, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. In the language of the Bible and in that culture, sharing a meal together was the highest form of communion between people. It was the ultimate act of sharing. And it still kind of is that way today. The Shunammite woman built Elisha his own room, not merely for practical reasons, but for his fellowship. She wanted him to be in her house. We are told that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. She was inviting him in all the time to share a meal with her, even before she built an extra room in her house. She built a room for Elisha that he wouldn't have to dine alone, that they could have fellowship together. And that's true for us. We don't open our hearts to Christ that he may dine alone. He wants to enjoy fellowship with us, and we should want to enjoy fellowship with him as well. She did not open to Elisha in hopes for a reward. Remember, she didn't want a reward. She opened her home to Elisha to serve and enjoy Elisha's company. We do not open to Christ only to be saved, but to commune with him in every aspect of our life. In the book of John, it says, Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. We do not open for Christ on Sunday mornings only, but on every day and in every way. He wants to permeate every aspect of our lives. To those who open for Him, Christ denies them no heavenly good. That is implied by the words, I will sup with Him. If you have fellowship with Christ, it is assumed and implied that He will deny you no good heavenly thing. In fact, if we look at verse 21, Jesus continues in Revelation chapter 3, In verse 21, he says, to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne. Now they who sit on the heavenly throne are denied no heavenly thing. As the Shunammite woman discovered, not even a barren womb can prevent the greatest good from growing within you. So I want you to ask yourself, what does your life lack? What curse abides on you? Well, hear Christ's knock, open your heart, and fellowship with the one who sits on the throne. Elisha offered to the woman an audience with the earthly king and earthly generals, but Christ offers an audience with the heavenly king and the Lord of hosts. He will deny you no good thing, no heavenly thing. And Christ will do the same thing for your family if you will invite Him to take up residence in your home. How many times does God have to prove this before we believe Him? He did it for Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, Manoah and his wife, Hannah and her husband, and the Shunammite woman and her husband. You'd think we'd get it through our heads. Psalm 128 says, Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands, happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel. The general principle is this. Build a proverbial room in your home for Jesus and glorified life will grow forth in your family and it will spread. The kingdom of heaven in this earth depends on Christian families with whom the Lord has taken up residence. Sure, it depends on the church too, but it also depends on the families those churches and the Almighty El is the living God and everything he touches whether it's in your heart in the heart of your family or in the heart of your church he turns death into life every time so let us pray Heavenly Father We pray that Your glorified life would grow through us as individuals as we go forward this week. The people will see Your glory in us as You have taken up residence in us. We pray that we will be marked as holy men and women of God by those in the world because of the work that You are doing in us. We pray the same thing for our family, Lord. We renew our commitment to you to seek ways to make more room for you in our families, to see what glorified life you might bring to us in all of its different dimensions and forms. We pray for this church, Lord, Pray that it would be like a vine, a fruitful vine creeping out into the world, turning barren ground into fruitful vines. And just as you did for the Shunammite woman, I know and we all agree and we stand on the promise that you can do this for us as well. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.