Shunem And The Righteous Response

Photo Credit: Lisa Hebert, Image taken: Silver Oak Farm

𝕊𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕠𝕦𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, "𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚢𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗."

𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, "𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢? 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑."

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, "𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕." 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝, "𝙳𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍; 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞." 2 Kings‬ ‭4:22-24‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Shunem, a heavily trafficked city in the land of Issachar was the home of a husband and wife of considerable resource. With the resources available to them, the woman of the house determined to make room for the prophet, a man of God, who carried a double portion of the anointing of Elijah.

𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛.

The result of the honor bestowed toward the Prophet was the reward of a promised son. This reward was not explicitly sought out, yet the woman received a son, as it was spoken.

A son would continue the legacy of the house. A son would provide for his mother in her waning years. A son determined the generations would continue.

When this son fell ill in the fields of his father, and took repose with his mother, no doubt she felt the concern of any who watch their loved ones struggle with an ailment.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛, 𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏.

She set her mind on the 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥 to gain her 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖.

The great woman knew 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 [2 Cor 1:9] was within the anointing which flowed from the prophet - and yet, not him, the Father from whom all things flow.

Utilizing the resource of the beast of burden, the donkey, the woman of the tribe of Issachar, of the city of Shunem, highlights the promise of Issachar:

𝙸𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚢, 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚜. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛. Genesis 49:14-16

There is significantly much more to this account than meets the eye. (I’ll be discussing ‘the more’ on how all of this connects to the lovely name of 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙾𝚒𝚕 at The Study Tuesday evening. )

Until then, consider what is in your hand, and to whom you are placing your trust.

ɪᴛs ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴛ ᴀs ᴡᴇ ғɪɴɪsʜ ᴄʀᴏssɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇsʜᴏʟᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴇʀᴀ.