Get Your Hopes Up

2 Kings 4:8–10 (ESV) One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. 9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”

The woman at Shunem shows incredible hospitality to the prophet in a time when prophets were not in high regard. Elisha is so moved he feels the need to bless her to in some way repay her.
2 Kings 4:13–14 (ESV) And he said to (Gehazi), “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ ” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” 14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

A son will be the gift. Elisha promises and the woman's response betrays both a sincere desire to have a child and a foreboding fear of losing him. She receives the child but not long after her fears are realized. The child is sick with a headache in the field with his father. Not knowing what to do, the father sends the boy home. Then a horrible tragedy strikes.
2 Kings 4:20–21 (ESV) And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out.

The woman takes no time to mourn for her dead son. She decides to run after the man of God who started all of this and finds him at the mountain of God.
2 Kings 4:27–28 (ESV) And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’ ”

Do you see yourself in this woman? I see a lot of people in her. They are bitter from life's tragedies and sort of blame God for giving them life in the first place. "Did I ask for this life, Lord?" Sometimes we can blame God for the trouble and forget what He did to save us from it. 

Elisha first sends Gehazi ahead with his staff to lay upon the dead child and raise him. This does not work and Elisha must go himself to see about this tragedy. The Bible takes us in the room to see how Elisha handles the problem:

2 Kings 4:34–36 (ESV) Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”

The seven sneezes catch us right away. Why this report? It is one of the cues the scriptures give that this REALLY happened. Fables do not normally include such random detail. The Bible is true.

Elisha's actions in this text are a clear representation of the Lord Jesus Christ who came to us when we were dead in trespasses and sin (See Ephesians 2:5) and associated with us, becoming like us in our condition and yet was without sin. Notice that Elisha, the prophet is able to touch the dead body and bring life. This is significant as contact with a dead body made an Israelite unclean. Numbers 19:11 (ESV) “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. Elisha is of a different sort.

Jesus came to our unclean place, he bore our sins on the tree and stretched himself out for us. In doing so, we come to life.

Now this passage also provides a practical lesson for us. So many Christians don't want to "get their hopes up" about life and God's goodness. This passage firmly teaches that we should get our hopes us and keep them up even when things look really bad. Right now things seem bad in this Coronavirus pandemic. Some of us are tempted to believe for the worst like this woman did before she even had a son. God doesn't want you there. He wants you to believe for the best! He wants you expecting goodness and mercy to follow you all the days of your life.