The Shunamite: Part II
And he called Geliazi, and said, Call this Shunaniite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said. Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the gromid, and took up her son, and went out. — 2 Kings, iv. 36, 87.
Fetv will deny the utility of illustrating principles and dispositions by examples; and the importance of presenting vices and virtues, not abstracted in their definitions, but embodied in action, and enlivened in character. Hence so large a proportion of the Word of God is occupied with the account of particular persons. We have never, indeed, the whole life given us; but a few bold sketches are exhibited which discriminate the individual, and interest and instruct the observer.
In this number, no one appears to more advantage than the Shunamite, on whose history we have already entered. Our last lecture left her declining the offer of advancement which had been made her. It was a trial which very few could have borne; but she nobly’ answered, “I dwell among mine own people.”
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes;” and the influence which Elisha is forbidden to use with the king on her behalf, he is resolved to employ in another direction. He consults with his servant what is to be done for her, Gehazi reminds him that she is childless, and her husband old; and that as there was no heir to whom the patrimonial estate would descend, the family would be soon extinct in Israel; and, therefore, if he could obtain from God the favor of a son, he would effectually remove her grievance, and gratify her in the most acceptable manner. Who can help observing here the imperfection attached to our present state? On how many things does our happiness depend, the absence of any one of which destroys or impairs the whole? And who can say, every wish of my heart is accomplished; I now want nothing? Alas! something is alwaj’S wanting in the quality or the degree. To-day we complain of chilling cold, to-morrow the sun beats upon our head, and we are ready to faint. Alone we sigh for company, in company we long for solitude. Here is a large family with scanty means of subsistence, there every kind of abundance is attended with the lack of offspring; and thus human happiness and misery are more equally dispensed than we are prone to imagine. Endowments 9,nd deficiencies are wisely balanced. All have something — none have all.
“Lo! children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward;” and of nothing were women of old so anxious, as the enjoyment of offspring. This eagerness has been frequently accounted for on the supposition, that they hoped to be the mother of the Messiah. This was indeed a very enviable distinction, and when we reflect upon our Saviour’s glory, we cannot Lclp exclaiming with the woman of the company, “Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked!” But the probability of the possession of this honor would not, at least generally actuate the Jewish women, especially after the more particular revelation of the Messiah’s descent; for after it was known that He was to spring from the tribe of Judah, and the family of David, no female of any other tribe or family could reasonably expect it. The cause is to be sought for in human nature — in the force of opinion — in the desire of respectability — in the feeling of importance — in the concern to please — in the appointment of heaven.
In the case of the Shunamite the boon would be rendered peculiarly welcome, because it had been so long denied, and now came unjooked for; therefore when it was announced, she knew not how to credit the report — “Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.” It has been said, that it is easy to believe what we wish, but common feeling contradicts this assertion. On the contrary, it is well known that the more we prize a thing, and the more eager we are to obtain it, the more alive are we to uncertainty, suspicion, and fear; and the more we crave every kind and degree of assurance. And this will be found to apply in another case, and with regard to a greater blessing than the promise of a child. They are the careless that presume; they are the unawakened and unconvinced who never question their state. But the man that hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and is asking. What must I do to be saved? he will find how hard it is to hope, and will never think that lie can have too much evidence to assure his heart before God — and that solicitude to know that he is safe, and that difl&dence of himself which leads to so much self-examination, (though considered by some as a kind of unbelief,) are really the effect of genuine faith. Smoke is not fire, but there is no smoke where there is no fire. Doubting, therefore, is generally a good prognostic. It shows that a man is impressed with the importance of his condition, and is unable to neglect it.
But the Shnnamite need not fear. She has the word of a prophet — a prophet of the God of truth, with whom all things are possible. The event soon confirms and fulfils the prediction — “And the woman conceived and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.” And thus, she who built a chamber for the man of God, has the prospect of her- house being built up in Israel; and she who had distinguished herself by her generosity and friendship, is rewarded by the gift of a life the most precious.
Who does not congratulate her for joy that a man is born into the world! Behold her now nursing her charge, and attending the child of promise and of prayer! With what pleasure she marks the progress of his body and of his mind, as he grows in wisdom and in stature! With what pleasure she sees him beginning to walk alone! With what pleasure she listens to the first lisping of his tongue, and keeps all his sayings, and ponders them in her heart! Nothing, perhaps, in this world is more delightful than the growth of a fine healthy infant.
But how precarious is every earthly possession!
Have we riches? they make to themselves wings and flee away. Have we honor? it hangs on the wavering tongue of the multitude, and shakes before every blast of disrespect. Have we health, the balm of life? our strength is not the strength of stones, nor are our bones brass; we are crushed before the moth — we are destroyed from morning to evening. Have we children? O let us hold them with a loose hand! What certain cares! what uncertain comforts are they! One half of their number dies in a state of infancy. How many seeds of disorder are sown in their tender frames, which a few unfriendly influences render malignant — while they are exposed to so many accidents and dangers from without, that we should despair of ever seeing a child reach maturity, did not our Saviour inform us, their angels do always make them their charge.
It was now harvest — the father was early abroad with the reapers — the child seeks him out — the father sees him running towards him through the gate, and feels himself young again while he is entertained with his innocent prattle. But whether it was that the beams of the sun were too strong, or some internal complaint began to operate, we know not; but the dear child is seized with pain, and “cries unto his father. My head, my head.” What nature urges this child to do, grace should teach us to do. In all our troubles we should immediately go and divulge them to our Heavenly Father, who is always nigh, always accessible; who pities us more than a father pities his children; and who not only allows us, but commands us in everything by prayer and supplication, to make known our requests unto God.
“Carry him,” says the father, “carry him to his mother.” Was this expressive of indifference? Does it mean, that he was so engrossed with his farm and his grain, that he comparatively disregards his child? Were we to judge from the character of too many husbandmen at such a busy season, we should be led perhaps to this conclusion; for such men have not always been very remarkable for sensibility. But no. It is obvious that he was not aware of anything more than a slight temporary indisposition. But he deems it a proper precaution to send him home. His mother would be the best judge of his complaint, and with her he would want no attention. What a refuge, what a solace are a mother’s arms and a mother’s bosom! O! the importance of a mother! “As one whom his mother comforteth.” My dear little children, be thankful if your mothers are spared to you by a kind Providence; and oh, pity those bereaved children who have no mother. Their mother lies in the cold churchyard; in vain they repair to the place, and use a name which, if anything was able, would awake her in the grave — “my mother;” but their cries, if oppressed, cannot reach her ears; nor, if well-treated, can the news gladden her heart. Some of these are only committed to the care of hirelings; in other cases, substitutes are provided to supply the place of the maternal relation. But this is impossible. A wife may be replaced; a mother cannot. Let a successor be ever so amiable, ever so gentle, ever so attentive, (and there are such who cannot be too highly praised,) yet they never bore them, never brought one forth, never nursed them at their own breast — do not, cannot feel the ties which bind a mother to the son of her womb.
I see the lad hanging on the neck of the man who bears him home — and 0! when they enter the yard, how would all the mother rise up and feel! She instantly takes him — “and he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.” Well in the morning, a corpse long before evening! No care, no tenderness, no tears, can retain his spirit. 0! what were the workings of her heart during the hours of suspense? What were her feelings when she saw the lip quiver, and felt his life poured into her bosom?
It is easy to imagine into what an agony, frenzy, perturbation, and confusion many a mother would have been thrown. But here we have another fine opening into the character of this illustrious female. It is her self-possession. Self-possession is that state of mind in which, though a person cannot hinder his feelings, he can govern them; and though he may be alarmed and distressed, yet he preserves his recollection; and can use his feet, hands, eyes, ears, his reason, and if he has any, hjs religion. Behold the temper and the demeanor of this woman. Here is nothing frantic, no rending of garments, no plucking off the hair, no peevish murmuring, no sullen discontent. “Weej)ing does not hinder sowing.” She perceives everything that should be done, and lo! she is at once applying herself to the doing of it. The affliction must have been the greatest she could have endured, and the affliction was also very sudden, and nothing so overpowers and distracts as the suddenness of a calamity. But nothing prevents the exercise of her ^yisdom and her grace.
What was the principle of her conduct? We learn, from the authority of God himself”, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that it was “faith.” She was a daughter of Abraham, and, like him, in hope, believed against hope; accounting that God was able even to raise her son also from the dead. This influenced her, and this explains the steps she took. She lays the child, not on his own little couch, but upon the Prophet’s bed; and she fastens the door after her, discovering no consternation that could betray or hinder her design. She sends to her husband for conveyance and attendance to go to the man of God; but though she acquaints him with her journey, she does not mention the cause of it, “And he said. Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath, And she said, it shall be well.” From hence we see — Ist, That this good woman had been accustomed, with others, to repair to the usual residence of Elisha, to hear, doubtless, the Word of God from his mouth, and to join in the devotions of prayer and of praise; and, 2dly, It appears that the father at this time had no suspicion of the child’s death, but acquiesces in the assurance she had given him of the propriety of the measure she was taking, for his heart safely trusted in her.
Elisha discerns her afar off, and in a moment all the concerns of her family rushed into his tender and grateful heart, and he sends his servant to meet her with the inquiry, “Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered. It is welU’, What does she mean? Her answer may be considered three ways. It was the language of diversion; wishing to waive any further inquiry of the servant till she reached the master. It was the language of confidence; hopeful, if not per-STiaded of the issue in her favor. It was also the language of submission; conscious that all that had taken place, as well as what she hoped would take place, was wise, righteous, and kind; and that all was working together for good.
In this view, indeed, it was something more than submission; it was acquiescence; it was approbation. And this is the exalted kind of resignation which a believer in God should seek after. It should not be enough for him to say, “This is my grief, and I must bear it;” but “Good is the word of the Lord;” — “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” — “He hath done all things well.”
Even this kind of resignation, however, is very distinguishable from stupidity and indifference. It does not consist in the absence of feeling, but in the regulation of it — in the improvement of it. It is by no means incompatible with a sense of the pressing evils of our situation, or a desire of redress. We see this in our Saviour himself in the garden, who prayed, “Father, if it be pdssible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”
Thus the Shunamite “fell down and caught him by the feet;” and a flood of tears seems to have been all her language for the time; and when the officious, unfeeling Geliazi came near to thrust her away, the more merciful master said, “Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.”
The supernatural powers possessed by the Prophets and Apostles of old were not at their own control. The exercise of them was limited by the giver
Hence Paul, who wrought so many miracles in his journey, was obliged to leave Trophimus at Melita sick: he could not cure his beloved son Timothy, but only advises him what regimen to use under his frequent infirmities. Elisha had done many wonderful works, but he could not do everything. He could foretell the birth of this child, even before his conception, but he knew nothing of his sickness and death, even after the event. God revealed himself as he pleased; and this sorrowful intelligence he had withholden, in order that he might learn it from the mother herself. And how does she divulge it? Never was anything so exquisitely simple and expressive. Few words — no introduction — it is the heart that speaks. “Then she said. Did I desire a son of my Lord? Did I not say. Do not deceive me?” And if she had said, “Had I obtained a child by importunity, I might have feared that he gave me a son in his anger, and took him away in his wrath — for what we extort from God never prospers — but it was a free-will offering. Why was I anguished to bring him into the world? What end has his existence answered? Was a child granted me to bring forth, and not to rear? O how much easier it was to endure the want of this blessing than to bear the loss of it! O thou man of God, thy prayers obtained liini, cannot thy prayers restore him?”
It is easy to conclude that, in all her affliction, Elisha would be afflicted. But in applying a remedy to her grief, he does a - thing which has exceedingly perplexed commentators. He sends Gehazi with speed “to lay his staff upon the face of the child.” It may be asked, why he did this; and whence the inefficacy of the action? Was it done of his own conceit, without a divine impulse? It is the opinion of some — Would not God honor by his countenance and sanction such a vile character as Gehazi? It is the conjecture of others — Or was it because the faith of this woman did not go along with it? This seems most probable. Our Lord always required faith in the suppliants who applied to him, and no cure was dispensed without it. And this woman had faith in the master, but not in the servant; in the prayers of the Prophet, but not in his staff. She therefore cleaves to Elisha, and affirms that she will not leave him. He therefore arose and followed her. “And when he was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in, therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth uj)on his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times; and the child opened his eyes.” And here we have reached a scene in which we must all take a symyathetic and lively part: — The mother called in to receive her son, endeared by the pangs and the joys of a second birth 1 With what emotions of transyort would she “take up her son” that “was dead, and is alive again — was lost, and is found.”
But even here the character of this illustrious woman appears. As when in her grief she was not swallowed up of overmuch sorrow, so as to forget the duties of adversity; so in her deliverance she is not intoxicated with delight. She doubtless felt a joj that strangers intermeddle not with, and which no one who is not in the same circumstances can estimate; but it does not betray her for one moment into a violation of any of the duties or decencies of prosperity. A mother in such a condition as this might surely be expected to rush towards the bed, and take up the child first, and press him to her bosom, and see, hear, think of nothing else. And who would not have excused her? But the Shunamite has nothing to excuse. She stands on higher ground. She is in everything exemplary. Propriety, dignity attends all her actions, not to ward off censure, but to command praise. Not even the feelings of a mother — of a mother placed in circumstances so affecting — shall cause her to neglect the prior claims of hutoble and fervent adoration and gratitude. “Then she went in, and fell at Ids feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.” — “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.”
A fanciful turn has been given to the whole of this marvellous transaction. It has been supposed that this miracle forms an outline of what is clearly taught us in the book of God, concerning the renovation of mankind; and we have seen a published sermon on the subject, by a man of some judgment, as well as much imagination. According to him this woman holds forth the church, — ‘often compared to a female, and a mother — and concerned for the spiritual life of her children. The dead child typifies those of the people of God who are yet dead in trespasses and sins, and “have neither voice nor hearing.”
Elisha stands forth a striking emblem of him who is the resurrection and the life, and who in the days of his flesh said, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” In vain is the servant sent, and in vain is the staff imposed; nothing is done till the master himself comes, and applies his power to the work. Thus ministers of our Lord go forth and dispense the word of truth; but there is no revival, till he, by his own Spirit, breathes upon these dry bones, that they may live. The renewed life is produced by degrees, and requires, as here, fresh applications of divine energy. But as this child, as soon as he was restored to life, was given in charge to the mother, so the enlivened heir of glory is committed to the church, there to be fed and nourished “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
We shall not take upon us to determine whether the miracle was designed to furnish such a prefiguration. If the narrative be fairly capable of such an accommodation, I know not that it is wrong to make it. K such an application promises usefulness, we would not hinder it by rigid criticism. If imagination succeeds in impressing such interesting truths on the mind, let her alone, she has wrought a good work. Yet we should be cautious, lest we cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of; or by turning facts into fiction, and fiction into facts, spiritualize the Scripture, till it seems to have no determinate and certain meaning.
Let us conclude by an inference, which is not only useful, but which the history was designed to afford.
Behold the power of prayer. It has commanded the heavenly bodies; it has controlled the elements; it has raised the dead.
Behold the power of faith. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” ‘” Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” And what says the Apostle of the ancient worthies, and of faith?” The time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jeythas; of David also, and Samuel, and of the Prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword; out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received
THEIR DEAD RAISED TO LIFE AGAIN.”
Above all, behold the power of God, who wounds and who heals, who kills and who makes alive!
We are not to ex|)ect miracles, but we are not to limit the Holy One of Israel. Improbabilities are not to discourage us. In all our difficulties, we have one to trust in “who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” We have one to trust in for whom nothing is too hard; in whom the exiled can find refuge, the i:)Oor riches, the weak strength, the dying life, and the dead life everlasting.
We are not to expect a repetition of this miracle in this world. But there is another world, in which we shall see greater things than these. And “why should it be thought a thing incredible that God should raise the dead?” He has not only given us promises of it, but furnishes us with actual and undeniable instances.
Let us apply this consolatory truth to our own death and the death of others. Have any of you been called to bury the desire of your eyes? Religion does not forbid your grief; it does not expect that you should put your fingers upon their eyes, and lay them, after years of intimacy, in the darksome grave, and leave them there, and return home without a sigh or without a tear. But it says, “we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” Martha-, “thy brother shall rise again. Believest thou this?’’ Have any of you buried promisuig hopes? Rachel, are you weeping for your children? Are you saying, “happy Shunamite! your loss was soon repaired, but my wound is incurable; I shall never embrace my son, Alas, no Elisha is near?” Refuse not to be comforted because they are not. They are. Their souls are in the bosom of their heavenly Shepherd. Their bodies are under his keeping; you shall see them again, hear them again; they will be delivered back, dressed in immortal charms. “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”
But you must die yourselves, and death is the
King of Terrors. It has often filled even the Christian with dread. But trembling on the brink of the grave, he takes courage while his God addresses him, and saj-s, “Be not afraid to go down, I will go down with thee, and I will bring thee up again.” — “I know that mj Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see -God; whom I shall see for myself,- and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed Vvithin me.”
Let us seek after an interest in the blessedness of those “who have part in the first resurrection;” for “on such the second death hath no power.” Let us live with “our conversation in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself”