The Lord gave the Prophet Elisha the power to perform many miracles to show he had been chosen as a messenger of God. One of these miracles brought great joy and relief to a couple who lived in the village of Shunem.
These people honored Elisha by building a private room for him on the roof of their house. The prophet and his servant Gehazi stayed there whenever they passed through Shunem, but the woman wouldn't accept any payment. Waiting to reward her for her kindness, Elisha promised the woman, who was childless, that she would soon give birth to a son. Although the woman didn't believe him, a child was born to her within the year, just as the prophet had predicted.
One morning years later the boy was in the fields with his father when he suddenly cried out, "Oh, my head, my head!" (2 Kings 4:19). At noon he died in his mother's lap. In anguish, she laid him down on Elisha's bed, saddled a donkey, and rushed to Mount Carmel to find the prophet.
Elisha saw she was upset and sent Gehazi ahead to the village, telling him to touch the boy with the prophet's staff and bring him back to life. But it didn't work. When Elisha and the woman arrived, he went into the boy's room and closed the door. After praying, Elisha lay down on the boy's cold body until it started to become warm again. Then the prophet got up, walked around, and bent over him. Miraculously, the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. When his mother came in and saw her beloved son was alive, she fell to the ground at Elisha's feet and thanked him. |
