Read 1 Kings 17:8-24 and 2 Kings 4:18-37. What similarities and differences do you see in these two resurrections?
In Hebrews 11:1-40, we read that by faith “women received back their dead by resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35, NASB). This was the case in the two resurrections depicted in the texts for today.
Image © Kim Justinen at Goodsalt.com
The first one (see 1 Kings 17:8-24) occurred during the great apostasy in Israel, which happened under the influence of king Ahab and his pagan wife Jezebel. As a severe drought was ravaging the land, God commanded Elijah to go to Zarephath, a town outside of Israel. There he met a poor Phoenician widow who was about to cook a last paltry meal for herself and her son, and then die. But their lives were spared through the miracle of the flour and the oil, which didn’t run out until the drought was over. Sometime later her son became sick and died. In despair, the mother pled with Elijah, who cried out to the Lord. “The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the boy returned to him and he revived” (1 Kings 17:22, NASB).
The second resurrection (see 2 Kings 4:18-37) took place in Shunem, a small village south of Mount Gilboa. Elisha had helped a poor widow to pay her debts through the miracle of filling many vessels with oil (2 Kings 4:1-7). Later, in Shunem, he met a prominent married woman who had no children. The prophet told her that she would have a son, and it happened as predicted. The child grew and was healthy, but one day got sick and died. The Shunammite woman went to Mount Carmel and asked Elisha to come with her to see her son. Elisha prayed persistently to the Lord, and finally the child was alive again.
These women had different backgrounds but the same saving faith. The Phoenician widow hosted the prophet Elijah in an extremely difficult time when there was no safe place for him in Israel. The Shunammite woman and her husband built a special room where the prophet Elisha could stay while passing through their region. When the two children died, their faithful mothers appealed to those prophets of God and had the joy of seeing their children come to life again.
| These are great stories, but for each one of these two accounts, how many untold others didn’t have something so miraculous happen? What should this sad fact teach us about just how central to our faith is the promised resurrection at the end of time? |
(3)The post Monday: Two Old Testament Cases first appeared on Sabbath School Net.
The post Monday: Two Old Testament Cases appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-two-old-testament-cases/
