30 Sept. Elisha brings a boy back to life
“One day Elisha went to Shunem, where an important woman lived. She begged Elisha to stay and eat. So every time Elisha passed by, he stopped there to eat. The woman said to her husband, ‘I know that this is a holy man of God… Let’s make a small room on the roof and put a bed in the room for him… Then when he comes by, he can stay there.”
“One day Elisha came to the woman’s house. After he went to his room and rested, he said to his servant Gehazi, ‘Call the Shunammite woman.’… Elisha had told his servant ‘Now say to her, “You have gone to all this trouble for us. What can I do for you?”…’ He [Gehazi] answered, ‘She has no son and her husband is old.’… Then Elisha said, ‘About this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.’… The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son at that time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.”
“The boy grew up and one day went out to his father, who was with the men harvesting grain. The boy said to his father, ‘My head! My head!’ The father said to his servant, ‘Take him to his mother!’ The servant took him to his mother, and he lay on his mother’s lap until noon. Then he died. So she took him up and laid him on Elisha’s bed…”
“Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, ‘Lead on. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.’ So she went to Elisha, the man of God, at Mount Carmel…”
“When Elisha came into the house, the boy was lying dead on his bed. Elisha entered the room and shut the door, so only he and the boy were in the room. Then he prayed to the LORD. He went to the bed and lay on the boy, putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, and his hands on the boy’s hands… Soon the boy’s skin became warm.”
“Elisha turned away and walked round the room. Then he went back and put himself on the boy again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.”
“Elisha called Gehazi and said, ‘Call the Shunammite!’ So he did. When she came, Elisha said, ‘Pick up your son.’ She came in and fell at Elisha’s feet, bowing face down to the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.”
(2 Kings 4:8-37)
When Elisha was travelling through the Valley of Jezreel, he was invited to stay in the home of a rich woman from Shunem, near Jezreel. She provided him with a room on the flat roof, and furnished it with a bed, a table, a chair and an oil lamp (see 2 Kings 4:10).
Elisha asked the woman what he could do to repay her kindness, and the woman replied that she desperately wanted a son. Elisha promised that she would, indeed, become pregnant. And although her husband was elderly, she was blessed with a son twelve months later.
The boy grew, and one day went out into the fields with his father. After complaining of a severe headache, the son died in his mother’s arms a few hours later.
The woman quickly saddled her donkey, and rode to find Elisha who was not far away near Mount Carmel. Elisha returned immediately to the woman’s house at Shunem and miraculously brought the boy back to life.
The photo shows an eighteenth century painting by Benjamin West depicting Elisha raising the Shunammite’s son (at the Speed Art Museum).
You can read more about Elisha @ https://thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/32-the-divided-kingdom-amp-journey-into-exile/elisha-performs-miracles-and-healings/