“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 sed to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he set on her knees tin noon, and then died.”―2 Kings 4:18-2018And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. 20And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. (2 Kings 4:18‑20).
A BELIEVER in Christ is the only man upon earth who can look all his enemies in the face; and, moreover, in the presence of their greatest power, can say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Any other man will be afraid to look upon these giant powers―sin, and death, and the grave; for who will dare to challenge either of these? or where is the man who will measure swords with them? “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, that he should live forever, and not see corruption.” The fact of man’s impotence is more than admitted, by the way in which he seeks to hide the terror of these things from his eyes, and to cover over their monster forms and hideousness; that thus disguised in plumes and pageantry, he may cheat himself into the belief that death is not “the wages of sin,” but “a debt of nature,” which he pays, and pays handsomely too. There may be sorrow and grief, and even tears, over the departed, but where is the shame and disgrace of death? Where, in the midst of the long line of this funeral pomp, is there any record that death is the penalty which God inflicted upon man for his disobedience and sin? and so they cover it up; changing the very fact of a grave-yard into a cemetery, with its flowers, and evergreens, and walks, and dignifying all by the name of a necropolis.
It was not upon such a path as this, however, that the Shunammite of our chapter walked. She looked at the reality of death, and measured it, not by any power in herself, or what was around her, but by Elisha, the man of God―Jehovah’s witness upon the earth in that day. To own the prophet Elisha, was to own God; and to come straight to him, was to use the appointed channel for grace and blessing. So “she called to 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.” The urgency of the case, and the simplicity of her faith and confidence in Elisha, will not brook the least delay, no, not even if her husband cross her path, and say as he did: “Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath.” The only reply she will make, in the calm repose of her soul, is, “It shall be well;” for she trusted in the power and grace of the man of God of that day―the link between the heavens and the earth. And should Gehazi afterward meet her, and challenge her as he does, with, “Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?” she will only repeat what faith will delight to say, from the first step it takes with God to the last, “It is well.” “Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.” How precious the speed of her faith, that will not be separated from its resource; and how sinner and saint need this assurance for today, not merely upon the matter of death to the body, but upon that far graver subject of what the Lord speaks, “I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cut into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him.” The God-man of today, Jesus the Christ, the greater than Elisha has long ago taken His place on the cross between God in the height of His holiness, and a hell-deserving sinner in the depth of his ruin and misery. Do I think of my sins? “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” Do I think of God, as I well may? It is the very God who has “laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” Do I fear being brought into judgment? He suffered in our stead, “the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” Yea, it is God who says, “Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more;” “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” And now observe, further, the Shunammite’s faith, when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, “Let her alone.” And she tells her tale of sorrow and death in his ear, and leaves it with Elisha to take up, and make it his own concern with Jehovah. He may put her to the test, by bidding Gehazi take the staff and lay it upon the face of the child; but nothing shall separate her from the person of Elisha; to him she is come, and with him she will stay. “And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” Elisha must not only interest himself about her and her troubles, but make them his own concern; and so he does. “And he arose, and followed her.” How like may we not say to the greater than Elisha, “whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with the devil, for God was with him”―the true Servant of man necessities, till He went into the deeper place at the cross, and where He begs us to receive Him as the Lamb of God for sinners slain, the author of eternal salvation. “And when Elisha 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.” The man of God has now made the whole case his own business, and he is shut in with the Lord. The mother is nowhere in this scene; her faith leaves what she brought with the one to whom she brought it. She came about death, and who can take this up but Elisha; she will wait at the door till she can get her answer in life, by taking up her son in her arms, and bearing him away in triumph. Surely we may say this is what our Jesus did to perfection, when His hour was come, and He trod His solitary but victorious path, and went in alone to “offer Himself without spot to God,” and say to all else, “thou canst not follow me now.” And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He is alone, shut in alone upon the matter of our sins and their judgment; He drinks that cup of wrath for us, which none else could drink; and in the darkness and sufferings of that hour, cries with a loud voice, and gives up the ghost. He has made the righteousness of God his business, as well as our salvation.
Let us turn again and see the ways and methods to which Elisha was directed. “And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon 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 opened his eyes.” The power and virtue in the prophet, served under the eye of God to accomplish all that was needed in bringing the child back to a life which had been overcome by death. But it is not such a life as this that our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord gives to us; ours is a life out of death, and is on the other side of death and the grave, and the whole power of Satan. The first man’s defeat and disgrace was in death; the second man’s triumph and renown are out of death. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death,” are His now titles by resurrection. The errand which brought Jesus―the God-man―down from above, to “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,” so that He might at last say, “I have glorified thee upon the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,” was to be wrought out single-handed and alone; and when at length He stood in our place as the Substitute and Sin-bearer, He had to know what it was to be forsaken of God, to pour out his soul unto death, to be wounded for our transgressions, to be bruised for our iniquities, and purchase our pardon and redemption by the shedding of His own blood. “He loved me, and gave himself for me.” And Elisha sent Gehazi, and said,” Call this Shunammite. 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 ground, and took up her son, and went out.” And now let us ask ourselves, shall this confidence and faith of the Shunammite in the power of Elisha in his day, when she put him to the proof by nothing less than the death of her child, say but little to as, who are called and entreated to place our confidence and faith upon a far greater―Elisha’s Lord, and Saviour too, in that work which He came to do, and did upon the cross? Have you, in faith, had to do with God about your state as a poor, ruined, condemned, and guilty sinner; and have you looked to the only name given under heaven among men, whereby they must be saved? Have you heard Jesus say, “It is finished” when He went in alone with God, and made your salvation His own business; have you, in the energy of faith, and in the pressing need of a guilty conscience, said, “Drive, and go forward,” and left all your cares, your guilt and sins with Jesus? Then listen to His voice, as He comes out of the silent and secluded chamber of His own sepulcher; come in and take a blood-bought pardon; come in for the best robe in the Father’s house; come in your sins, and go away without them; come in your rags, and let that be the Father’s care; come like the Shunammite, on a matter of sin and death, and go away with life, and righteousness, and glory. She came only upon one of the many things which are against us; but every believer now can by faith see “all our enemies dead upon the sea shore.” Do we look steadily at sin, and death, and the grave, and corruption? Yes, without a quiver or a throb; for our Jesus has abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light. He has destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and delivered them, who through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage. Do we look steadily at life, and righteousness, and glory, and the heavens? Yes, without a misgiving or a fear; for our Jesus is at the right hand of the Majesty on High. Man is in a new place, and that place is ours; nor can we accept a lower as the purchase of Christ’s sufferings and death, and the gift of the Father’s love. O fall down before this Jesus-Saviour on the cross below―before Him on the throne of God above! Like the Shunammite before Elisha, bow yourself to the very ground, and take up the spoils of Christ’s death, and go out rejoicing. Is there a doubt or an unbelief in your heart to plague you and dishonor Him? He will not do as Elisha did, stretch Himself upon the child a second time, nor put His eyes upon your eyes, &c.; but this He will do, He will come, the doors being shut, and stand in the midst, and say, “Peace be unto you;” and if there be a timid disciple, He will silence all unbelief in the only effectual way, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side and be not faithless, but believing;” and the response will be with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” May He grant it to be thus with you.