The Shunammite Woman ~ Making Room for God
Baking, cleaning, rearranging furniture, retrieving the company dishes from their hiding places. I had many chores to accomplish before the women from my Hong Kong Ladies’ Bible Study arrived for one of our biannual parties. To prepare food and make room for 50 women in our small flat required planning and creativity. But I relished the opportunity to host the women because I treasured the relationships. The Shunammite woman felt the same about Elisha’s visits.
Seeing and Seizing an Opportunity
Elisha, a prophet in Israel during the ninth century B.C., often passed through the town of Shunem. (2 Kings 4:8-37) Grateful for an opportunity to show her honor and hospitality, a local woman invited him for a meal. Scripture calls her a “great woman.” Most translators assume the word “great” denotes her wealth. However, in other writings, the same Hebrew word refers to rabbinic scholars noted for their Torah learning and sagacious rulings. Since the Shunammite possessed both wealth and wisdom, perhaps the author intended both meanings.
After several visits, the woman suggested to her husband they renovate their house to include a furnished room for the “holy man.” In providing for Elisha’s needs, the Shunammite became his patron. Elisha, of course, wanted to reciprocate. He offered to speak to the king on her behalf, to become a broker in the system of patronage. But the woman explained she needed nothing. When Elisha persisted, his servant noted the woman was childless. Barrenness was a stain on the Shunammite’s honor since in the ancient world, a woman’s primary purpose was to bear children. Childlessness also meant her elderly husband’s property would pass to someone outside the family, shaming his family and leaving her future well-being in doubt.
When Elisha promised the woman she would bear a son the next year, she objected:
No, my lord! Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!
2 Kings 4:16
Her response revealed her deep desire for a son and her desperate fear of another disappointment.
Gifts Are Not Guarantees
God fulfilled his promise to the Shunammite woman, and she held a treasured son in her arms the next year. But one day, when the little boy was in the field with his father, he complained of a headache. Although a servant placed the child in the loving arms of his mother, he died. Why would God give her the child and then let him die? She immediately laid him on Elisha’s bed and arranged a journey to the prophet’s home at Mt. Carmel. When Elisha saw her coming, he sent his servant to inquire about her family.
“Everything is all right,” she said.
2 Kings 4:26
Rabbi Alex Israel observed:
Interestingly, the Shunammite woman never states that the child is dead. … She is frightened that if she says that he is dead, that indeed will be the case. On the other hand, if she vaguely alludes to his condition, there is always room for hope.
Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, “Elisha and the Shunammite Woman”
Regardless of her claim, everything was not all right. As the Shunammite grabbed Elisha’s feet, he recognized her distress and realized God had hidden the cause from him. He instructed his servant to race to Shunem, but the woman refused to return without Elisha. Despite the servant’s efforts, the boy still lay dead on Elisha’s bed when the prophet arrived. After prayer and performing something like CPR, the boy sneezed seven times. Once again, God had worked through Elisha, this time to restore the promised son to life.
Following the Lead of the Shunammite Woman
When the Shunammite recognized an opportunity to entertain God’s prophet, she made room for him in her home and heart. Our awareness of or desire for God is his invitation. He invites us to make room for him, to make time for him, to open our minds to his presence and message. Enforced isolation or idleness may be the opening he’s been awaiting.
Though the Shunammite woman had no thought of reward when she made room for God, he fulfilled her heart’s desire. He gave her a son. God’s gifts always accompany his presence. Nevertheless, the Shunammite wasn’t immune to the heartache of our broken world. When tragedy struck, she maintained her faith and focus. Rather than wasting time speculating on the cause or solution, she took her grief and confusion to God. She recognized that she didn’t have the complete picture, that God had the last word.
The same is true for us. We can’t know the truth of our circumstances until we hear from God, until we see our situations from his perspective. When we refuse to acknowledge him, we limit his power in our lives. When we make room for him, we give him space to act.
[He] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20
God doesn’t help those who help themselves. He helps those who depend on and follow him. Are you making room for his work in your life?
Nancy Lucenay
Retired pastor’s wife, Bible teacher, & writer. Communicating biblical truth with cultural awareness.
11 Comments
Nancy Lucenay
Hello, John:
Thanks so much for reading and commenting on my blog. I’m grateful God spoke to you. I hope you’ll subscribe to my email list so we can keep in touch.
Wishing you God’s richest blessings on your journey through life.
Nancy
Nancy Lucenay
Dear Helen:
Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts! When our hearts and homes are open, we demonstrate the welcoming heart of God who reaches out to all who are seeking. What a beautiful way to reflect Jesus’ love!
God bless your study and walk with Jesus as he shines his light through you. I hope you’ll stop by Beyond the Front Door again.
John
Blessed be the word of God,
I am so bless with every bit of the word of live you share about the shunammite woman, thank you Nancy woman of God , oh my I can feel the presences anointing all around me.busting in to speaking in tongues.
Please do send your messages through my email, I will be happy to Lean from your ministry
God bless you more.
John.
Helen
Hello, Nancy.
It was a treat to read your blog about the Shunamite woman. As a Bible student I was touched by her generous and godly hospitality. She lived out her faith and exhibited practical Christianity. Proposing to her husband that they “make a little chamber, … on the wall; … set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: …, that he shall turn in thither” is to welcome Christ into their home.” Had she been alive when Mary was heavy with child, Jesus would not have been born in a barn. There would have been “a little chamber on the wall” for Jesus.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Helen
Hello Nancy,
What does it take to start a blog?
Stuart Ward
Appreciated your thoughts on what made the Shunammite a “great” woman! I’m preaching a series on Elisha, and enjoying every minute of it. By the way, were you acquainted with the Rees family, missionaries in Hong Kong?
Nancy Lucenay
Thanks for reading my blog and for commenting. I totally understand your joy in studying and teaching God’s Word. It’s a blessing!
Harry remembers meeting the Rees’ family. When we’re they there and with what church or organization?
Ernestina Tabalbag
I really love readying your thoughts about the Shunamite woman!:) Will be preaching about this topic in groups of women
Love from Philippines
Nancy Lucenay
Thank you for your kind words, Ernestina. I pray God’s blessing on your preaching.
Apaa Robert
I am much inspired by reading your thoughts on a woman of shunem.
But where I need to be more enlighten is where the bible call her “a great woman”
Does it mean she was wealthy, respective or the most honored woman?
Nancy Lucenay
Thank you for your kind words and your question.
As stated above, “Most translators assume the word ‘great’ denotes her wealth. However, in other writings, the same Hebrew word refers to rabbinic scholars noted for their Torah learning and sagacious rulings. Since the Shunammite possessed both wealth and wisdom, perhaps the author intended both meanings.” As you can see (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1419.htm), the word can mean great in any sense–wealth, wisdom, age, loudness, and more.
The Shunammite woman was certainly wealthy, but she was also generous and godly. As is often the case in Hebrew, the meaning depends on the context. Perhaps the biblical author wanted us to see many facets to her greatness.
I wish you God’s blessings as you study his Word and grow in your relationship with him.