God’s Individual Care
God’s care for one woman in the midst of national turmoil
For the past three months, I have been teaching about the life of Elisha to the kids at our church. Diving into the book of 2 Kings has been interesting, to be sure. However, it has been an incredibly enriching study.
Check out this Miscellany I wrote last week as I was preparing to teach about God's care for the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 8:1–6.
2 Kings has been interesting to study. You go from the death of a king to the appointing of a new prophet, one who immediately performs several fascinating miracles (2 Kings 1–2). Then, you have the account of wicked king Jehoram attacking the Moabites with the help of Judah and the Edomites (2 Kings 3). The author then zooms in on the needs of two different women, followed by two accounts of miraculous provision (2 Kings 4). A Syrian commander named Naaman seeks out healing from Elisha, and Elisha's servant Gehazi is punished for his greed (2 Kings 5). The sons of the prophets need to build a bigger place to live, and miraculous provision is provided; then we jump to a party of Syrian raiders attempting to capture Elisha, whom God miraculously saves; then the author seemingly jumps the shark by introducing the siege of Samaria, Israel's capital, by the Syrian army—a siege so effective that the people resort to cannibalism in order to survive (2 Kings 6–7). And, once again, God delivers his people.
Now, before jumping to a tale of political intrigue and assassination that would serve to determine the course of Israel's fate as a nation (2 Kings 8:7–15), the author reintroduces the wealthy woman from chapter four. Potentially during or before the famine mentioned in 2 Kings 4:38, Elisha tells her to go live somewhere else. For seven years, the woman and her household live in the land of the Philistines. Afterward, she returns and asks the king for her land back (perhaps it was taken by the king or a scheming relative). When she arrived, Elisha's servant Gehazi (I wonder what his restoration was like!) was just telling the king about all of Elisha's great deeds. In fact, he had just arrived at the part where Elisha raised the woman's son from the dead (coincidence? I think not). The king immediately appointed an officer to see to the restoration of her land.
2 Kings is full of stories where God cares for his people on a national scale. However, scattered throughout are times where God reached down to care for one of his people individually. God is sovereign on a grand scale, yes. But he is also sovereign in the everyday lives of normal people like you and me.
If God is sovereign over things great and small, let’s trust him through it all!
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Soli Deo Gloria,
Caleb Friske