Blessings of Godly Mother's
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Happy Mother’s Day! I ran across this verse this week:
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
Paul here is calling out in his closing Greeting Rufus’s mother and says that she has been a mother to Him as well. In this list of honoring those in Rome who have been part of his ministry, he makes sure to add in someone who by being a godly mother has been a blessing to him.
It has been my tradition to pause on Mother’s Day from whatever sermon series we have been doing and to look at a character study of a godly woman in the Bible. Biblically I think that Paul’s greeting of Rufus’ mother gives us a precedent to honor the godly mother’s, whether our biological mother’s or those who have been like mothers to us, from time to time.
Paul has been blessed by this mom in Rome, And I believe that others were as well. So this morning I am going to continue the tradition of looking at a character study of a godly woman in the Bible, but I want to focus on the blessings that come from a godly mother. To do this I am going to go to a passage that I just read in my Bible reading plan. And I am not going to look at just one woman, but two. These two woman are different in many ways, One is poor, the other wealthy, one is married, the other a widow, one has two sons, the other starts out with no children but God gives her one son. But what both of these women have in common, they both are trusting In God in a time when most of Israel and Judah have turned to serving idols. Both of these women are godly examples to their children.
A Desperate Widow
A Desperate Widow
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
Who are these sons of the prophets? Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary tells us they were:
“Members of a band or guild of prophets. “Sons of” refers to membership in a group or class and does not imply a family relationship. “Sons of the prophets” suggests a community or guild of prophets. The most extensive use of the expression occurs in the Elisha stories where the prophet is portrayed as the leader of the prophetic guild…The sons of the prophets functioned either as witnesses (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15) or as agents of Elisha’s ministry (2 Kings 9:1–3).”[1]
These sons of the prophets apparently lived communally at such towns as Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, and the hill country of Ephraim and had one master over them who at this time was Elisha. But rather than being a group of monks, locked away in a monastery somewhere, many of them were married and interacted with the people in the area where they also lived and worked. A comparison today might be a group of seminary students.
And like many college students today, this young student had acquired a significant debt. (although the Scripture does not say how). We know that this debt remained after he died, and that the creditor was coming to collect. One method of acceptable payment would be to take her two boys to work off the debt. (This was allowed in Scripture, but of course the debt would be totally canceled after 7 years.
The problem here was that In Israel, there was no social security, or IRA’s or 401K’s. It was a families responsibility to care for a family member who was widowed or in their old age. This fell to either a brother or near male relative who would redeem the widow and marry them (this was called a kinsmen redeemer) we see this happen in the story of Ruth where Boaz becomes Ruth’s Kinsmen redeemer. He married her and took care of her. If there were grown children, they were responsible to care for her. But it appears that there was no kinsmen redeemer to step in, and if her sons were sold into slavery, than she would be left penniless with no means of provision.
So She cried out to the Elisha the school master,
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
Here than is a woman who had very little and was in great need. If her boys were taken away, who would take care of her? Losing her only visible means of support, life seemed hopeless.
So what was her response? Blame God? Become bitter? This would be easy to do, especially after her husband had faithfully served the Lord. Then again, she could try to work it out on her own. But we find she chooses none of those options. Instead she casts her cares upon the Lord through Elisha.
And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
Elisha responds, “What can I do for you?” Notice the compassion of Elisha. Here Elisha shows us that God cares about nameless, ordinary people. You don’t have to be high and mighty to seek God’s help. The widow cries out to him, and he is eager to help. She prays like Jehoshaphat: “For we are powerless. . . . We do not know what to do, but we look to You” (2 Chr 20:12).
Elisha responds like Jesus responded to blind Bartimaeus: “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). Elisha’s kindness as a mediator points the way to our Savior, who stands ready to offer grace in times of need. Are you seeking Him in your need? Are you answering the question, “What do you want Me to do?” I’m not advocating prosperity theology; I’m simply encouraging you to present your needs (not your greed) to God. God cares about big stuff and little stuff. He knows the plots of North Korea, and he knows about your car problem in Oregon. Do you believe He cares and can help? If so, then follow this nameless widow to the throne of grace.
In the Old Testament, no less than in the New, God’s promise stands:
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Our heavenly father knows what we need.
Our weakness is always an opportunity for God to show his strength. The poor and the weak are the particular objects of his care. God himself “defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deut. 10:18)
And how did God meet that need? Notice she did not magically “win the lottery” or have a rich uncle suddenly die and leave her an inheritance. Sometimes we daydream about those instant wealth possibilities. God could provide in such ways, but his normal way to meet our needs is to take what little we have and multiply it, often with community involvement.
Oil was expensive then, just as it is now. It was used for cooking, lighting, and many other uses. So, the worth of such a great quantity of oil would be sufficient enough to not only pay off her debt But So much faster than typing provide for the family well into the future.
The debts they could not pay were paid by God. He was their Redeemer, and he is ours. The greatest debt we all have is the mortgage on our souls. It is a debt we cannot pay. But God can pay it. He has paid it by giving his own Son as a ransom for our souls. In a sense, this woman’s sons were saved from debt bondage because God was their near kinsman and Redeemer; his own Son would pay their debts and ours.
The widow’s sons were subject to bondage because they had been put up as a pledge or surety for an obligation, as a guarantee and collateral that the debt would be paid. God, too, has made a promise, and the surety of his obligation is his Son. “Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant” (Heb. 7:22).[2]
Providing for her needs in this way, who is blessed in the end? The creditor was. He was reimbursed the full amount of the debt. Her sons were. They did not have to work for someone they did not know. The widow certainly was. But more importantly, the entire community was blessed as they witnessed this miraculous provision from the hand of the Lord, a provision they were personally part of. And Ultimately, God is Blessed because He is glorified as all involved see the beauty of God’s goodness, his love, mercy and grace.
The Mom at Shunem
The Mom at Shunem
We come now to our second woman, known to us simply as the woman from Shunem.
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. And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 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.”
Shunem was about 15 miles east of Mount Carmel. In this town lived a woman who was well to do. We are not told how she came by such wealth but there is some hint that it came through her husband's profitable business. We apparently find her now, during the “Golden years” of her life. Everything was in order; everything was provided for. Life was good.
She was a woman who was outstanding in her reverence of the God of Israel. She lived in a time when many of her fellow Israelites did not reverence God, and had fallen into the worship of the idols of the surrounding nations. But she herself stood out as a woman of faith. On a regular basis, she would go to Mount Carmel, where the prophets of God studied together and taught; and she would join them in worship and instruction during the appointed times—at the time of "the New Moon or the Sabbath" (v. 23).
In fact, she had the spiritual sensitivity to recognize that the prophet Elisha was a great man of God. And she was willing to give generously of her wealth in order to ensure that his prophetic ministry in Israel was well supported, and that he himself was well provided for. She had a great faith in the God of Israel; and a great reverence for the man that God had appointed to be His spokesman to her people.
One day she invited the itinerant prophet, Elisha, over for dinner. This was such a hit that it turned into an irregular event. Being a very generous and spiritually sensitive woman, she desired to do even more. Besides, having him stopped by unexpectedly so often got to be quite a chore, bringing out and making up the “hide a mat” and setting an extra place at the table etc. So, she put a little order back into her life. She made a little room for Elisha. Quotation mark here, man of God. You can stay whenever you want an as long as you want. It's got a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp. Quotation mark All in all it was a pretty nice arrangement. Without a doubt, this woman was a blessing to Elisha.
So Elisha sought to return the favor.
One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, “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.”
“Life is good. I have no real needs. Everything has its place and I'm content.” Whether out of a humbleness that made her shy to ask anything of God, or out of a sense of satisfaction that caused her to think she needed nothing from God; she expressed that she had no needs and was satisfied simply to give of herself and serve.
So, what do you get someone who has everything? Sometimes with someone like that, you have to ask someone else what can be done for her. So, Elisha once again called for his servant;
And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.”
What kind of response was this? There was no laughter, as with bear and Sarah. There doesn't appear to be any joy, as with bear and Hannah. Just, no my Lord do not lie to your servant oh man of God In other words, you've got to be joking! Sure, I wanna son years ago, but I have long since put that notion out of my mind period to have a child now dash at my age? Do you know what kind of inconvenience that would be? Life is good. Everything has its place. So why now?
So what was this woman's need? The same as the widow the Lord desired to break into her life and show himself in a new and deeper way. In response, God desired that she would draw even closer to him. And throughout Scripture we see that the blessings of God are only found in the place of our weakness.
This woman was rich and felt that she had everything. She was content. But God was going to bless her in the area that she was not rich but instead very poor.
But then we read:
When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.
We're not told exactly what happened here. Possible heat stroke has been suggested. And he must have been a young boy to sit on her lap. How difficult it must have been to experience such a tragedy.
But then she did a strange thing period she simply laid him on Elisha’s bed and chose to not tell her husband. Why? There seems to be one thought and one thought only on her mind: get to Elisha (hence, the Lord) as quickly as possible. And if she had told her husband of the boy's death it would begin the time of household morning and there would be no leaving to find the man of God. Like the widow in our previous story, she immediately took her sorrow to the Lord.
Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.” Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite.
Apparently New moons and sabbaths were appropriate times to gather with the prophets. Also, this journey that she took to Elisha would have been about a 5- or 6-hour journey there and back.
Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’ ” And she answered, “All is well.”
And please notice what she said to her husband. He asked why she was in such hast to go to Mount Carmel. It wasn't the ordinary time of teaching or worship. Even if she was motivated by grief, he didn't understand why she would want to go there then. And she didn't explain her motives to him then. She simply said (as it literally reads in the Hebrew), "Well", or "Completeness", or "Soundness". She was simply making the affirmation, "It will be well"; or as it is in the New International Version, "It's all right".
She wasn't lying when she said this. It wasn't a mere brush-off. It was a short answer; but it was one that her actions demonstrated that she truly believed. In the providence of God, "It will be well." May we all have such faith in God's providence at such times, that we too would say, "No matter what, I know the power of God; and I know that it will all be well."
Notice that she basically refused to share her heart with anyone but Elisha.
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.”
She hadn't run in such great haste to talk to the mere servant of Elisha. She would settle for nothing less than the man of God himself. Things would be well; but only if she could appeal to him—and that he would then make his appeal on her behalf to the God of Israel. If I may put it this way, she wanted to go as "direct" as she could. She sets an example for us in this: Don't merely run to the servants of Jesus in a time of need. Run directly to Him!
She came to Elisha; and it was there that she poured her heart out to him in her time of greatest need.
Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’ ”
It is here that she now pours out her soul. You know we see the Psalmist doing this often as well. We can lay out our deepest hurts, our laments, our questions and frustrations to God. WE are told to cast our cares upon Him. As we do this God often will through the Holy Spirit and His Word meet us in our hurt and sorrow and comfort us.
He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her.
The spiritually sensitive woman would accept no substitutes - especially Gehazi.
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.” When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 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. 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. 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.” She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out. And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”
So, who is blessed here? The Shunammite woman certainly was, she received back her dead son. But Elisha also was blessed and through his faithful ministry for the Lord a child was raised from the dead. But I believe that God was also blessed. He was able to show off his goodness. And the Shunamite woman glorifies God by her faith in Him, after all that is what she was showing when she went immedeatly to Elisha. Elisha was God’s ambassador, and she knows that. She is essentially clinging to God. What do you call it when you are dumbfounded by the difficult providences of God, but you still cry out to him? Faith! Faith says, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of Yahweh” (Job 1:21). She doesn’t have the answers; she is grieved, but she has not turned away from God.
So today we are celebrating our mother’s and the blessing that we have from them, but ultimately, it is God who we praise for the blessing of godly mothers.
Though God is high and lofty, His exaltation doesn’t remove Him from His children; it simply means He has unlimited power to bless them. The psalmist says,
Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!
God is swift to bless, God will ultimately reward every act of obedience for the kingdom of God because it demonstrates that you have welcomed the gospel.
Two women in need. They both took their desperate situations directly to the Lord. God hears their cry and answered. But in the process, many were blessed in the end. Oh, that our walk with God would be faithfully God centered as well!
Let us “praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
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[1] Fred L. Horton Jr., “Sons of the Prophets,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1520.
[2] Raymond B. Dillard, Faith in the Face of Apostasy: The Gospel according to Elijah & Elisha, ed. Tremper Longman III and J. Alan Groves, The Gospel according to the Old Testament (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1999), 95–96.
I am also indebted to a sermon I heard preached by my pastor growing up, David Martin