Observations and Interpretations:
(1) A good beginning and a good end for the faithful followers of God
8 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, for the LORD has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman did as the prophet said
v.6...Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now.”
v.6...Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now.”
The woman did as the prophet said. She obeyed God and was a faithful follower.
(BKC) God preserved His faithful Shunammite believer by removing her from the famine before it began and by bringing her before the king at a uniquely propitious moment....Besides permitting her to return to her former homestead, the king even ordered that the proceeds from the land, since she had left it, be paid to her.
Reflection: God cares about His own. She was spared of the famine and she got back all she had left. When other people suffered from the famine she seemed to have no loss. How could it be! In the future, when the world will be judged under the 7 years of Tribulation, the church will be taken away in heaven. Thank God for His grace. How can it be that God is so gracious to us?!
(2) The disinterest of the king of Israel over the prophet/God was implied in 3 ways:
A. 8:1-6 the description about the woman, "the woman whose son he had brought back to life" was repeated in v.1, and 5. The miracle of Elisha was confirmed, but the king of Israel only ordered the woman's property and the produce from the land returned back to her v.6. Nothing was said about any faith of the king to God even when they heard about the resurrection!
B. When the king of Syria was sick and learned that the prophet was in his country, he sent his people to request an oracle from the LORD about his sickness 8:7-8.
Israel's king, King Ahaziah, had a similar request, in Elijah’s day, but he planned to ask of the false god Baal-Zebub. (NAC) Unlike Ahaziah in 2 Kgs 1:1–18, Syria’s king seems aware that the Lord’s prophet is superior to any other prophetic “competitors.
Reflection: Are we just like the Israel king that we are not moved by works of God? Are we just like the Israel king that we do not ask for the LORD's will? e.g. even when we see that other people will inquire the LORD in making the big decision of their lives, we have never asked for God's will when we make decisions.
C. From 8:16-28, 2 generations of Judah's kings, Jehoram v.16, and Ahaziah v.25, were both under the influence of queen Athaliah, Ahab's daughter. And both of them followed the footsteps of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.
18 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. He did evil in the sight of the LORD.
27 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty and did evil in the sight of the LORD, like Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he was related to Ahab’s family.
27 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty and did evil in the sight of the LORD, like Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he was related to Ahab’s family.
(BKC) Elijah had been commissioned by God to anoint Jehu king over Israel (1 Kings 19:16). This assignment fell to his successor Elisha who delegated it to one of the young prophets under his tutelage.
Why at this point of time did Elisha finish the "assignment?" Perhaps, the evil of Athaliah (the daughter of Ahab) seemed to linger generations after generations. When Jehu rose to power, the descendent of Ahab must died. Then their influence might be curbed.
Reflection: What sins that got to stop in your life? What bad influence linger in your life? God will take care of Ahab/Athaliah's by putting another person to be the king of Israel. Do not wait until it is too late that God will replace you with other people if you are no longer fit to serve Him.
Audrey
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