These two chapter have one thing in common - they both show God at work in the lives of foreigners. In Chapter 4, we see Elisha continuing the miracles that God did through Elijah (by the way, am I the only one who wishes that Elisha and Elijah's names weren't so similar?) and the similarities between the "subject" matter of the miracles th
ese two men performed. Elisha is offered an entire room to himself at the Shunammite's woman's house. What wonderful hospitality this woman offered to Elisha! What an amazing example of Hebrews 13:2 which says, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (ESV) Then we see Elisha perform a miracle through God of resurrection of the Shunammite woman's son. This is the second miracle of resurrection, as Elijah performed the same miracle back in 1 Kings chapter 17. This is quite amazing work that God did through these two men, as we do not see this kind of work again until Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. I just want to be sure you do not miss the significance of these two miracles!
Then, in Chapter 5, we see God heal the commander of the army of the king of Syria, Naaman, who of course was another foreigner. It cracks me up that Naaman pitches a little hissy fit about what river he goes into to be healed. I mean, really??? You are about to be healed from leprosy and you are going to be picky about the river it happens in? Pride...it almost kept Naaman from being healed at all! Then we see the sin of greed (which has its root in pride!) played out by Elisha's servant Gehazi. As a result of this sin of greed, Gehazi is given the leprosy of Naaman to him AND his descendants. Again, we need to learn from the mistakes of others in the Bible so that we do not have to feel and experience the consequences of these sins!
Back to the foreigner thing. When the Bible uses the word "foreigner" in these chapters, what exactly is the definition of this word? A foreigner would have been any person that was not born into one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So, that would include...US! So the amazingly wonderful news here is that even though we are not Jewish or an Israelite by birth, we get to receive the love and healing of God the Father just as these characters did in our reading for today. Even BEFORE Jesus came to earth, God was showing His love for ALL nations by healing them and allowing his prophets to reach out to them. The result? Naaman said, as we do today, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel." (Chapter 5, verse 15, ESV) Of course, we are adopted into God's family with all the rights and privileges of sons (or daughters) because of Jesus' redemptive work on the cross. Praise God that as Gentiles, we can still have all of these rights!!! So let's not get comfortable with the fact that WE are already adopted into Christ's family. We need to get all the foreigners we can into the family! What are YOU doing to bring in some foreigners???
Jeanette said.....Great point, Mindy, re: not becoming complacent just because we are "in", but we should be looking for foreigners (unbelievers) in our midst to point them to Jesus! Praying God will open our eyes to opportunities to share Him & invite others IN!! (ps. I, too, have always had trouble w/the Elijah/Elisha names!)
ReplyDeleteMindy, your post was well-said. At times it is easy to get complacent and comfortable with our salvation and keeping it to ourselves. A very thought-provoking question "What am I doing to bring in foreigners?" Pondering that question. Let us constantly be reminded to love, care, and spread the good news with people we come in contact with each day. And yes even complete strangers! We all need Jesus!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mindy - I had never connected the "foreigners" in these chapters, but you are right. I too mix up the prophets names - (I once had a friend that named their dog Elijah so I should at least get that name right.)
ReplyDeleteIt also brought to mind that sometimes God asks us to do "little, insignicant" things (at least in our own eyes). If we have an urging from the Holy Spirit - whether it's to make a call, write a note, say a prayer, stop and chat - sometimes it is the "little things" that come into play to bring about the BIG things. We need to be obedient without question even when we don't "understand" what the outcome will be - and try not to "whine" about it.
Excellent post mindy! Not only have I had similar writers block lately before, I also found myself doing a mental check every time I typed Elijah or Elisha - just up make sure I got it right! I also noticed the fact that the resurrections were similar to what Jesus did for Lazarus, - but thanks for pointing out that it really doesn't happen again until then. Barbara, I had the same thought about the little things- and it's our pride that makes us crave the big things. We have to pay attention to even the small requests. I am still loving reading through the bible with you ladies! Mindy- here's to sitting there until God shows us what we need!
ReplyDeleteMindy, I had the same frustration as I was reading the chapters for my post. It seemed like I kept saying over and over, "God, you are going to have to help me with this. Nothing is making sense." That was just while I was reading. I was a long way from writing. I find some of these chapters very hard to read and understand. I would read the other post and think, am I the only one having this problem. So while I was very understanding of what you was going through, I was also a little relieved to know I wasn't the only one with a problem. By the way, You did a great job on your post as I think all have with these hard chapters and I hope it helps us all to better understand the Bible. I know it has for me.
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