These stories about Elisha seem somewhat out of place in a book that is named after kings, but Elisha was a well known and proven prophet then, and kings relied on him for his Godly guidance. He’d built a reputation as well by speaking the truth and then showing some kind of miracle to back it up. This chapter is kind of a round-up of Elisha’s miracles. While the people featured in this book are just common folks, their stories would have circulated quickly throughout the towns and cities around them. I fell in love with the woman from the second story. Her demeanor is so calm and warming. She first invites Elisha for dinner and feeds him regularly. Then she builds a whole guest room for him. When Elisha asks her what she needs, she simply replies that her family takes very good care of her. My favorite part, however, is when she rides to see Elisha herself. When Gehazi asks if she is ok, she tells him everything is fine, but can’t you just hear the agony and anger in her voice when she grabs Elisha’s feet??? She didn’t say my son is dead. Help him. No, she says (v. 28), “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?” In other words, she said, “I told you not to do this to me! The pain is too great!” I think Elisha felt her pain … deeply. He didn’t hesitate: “Get ready to travel,” he said to his servant. Even when Elisha felt the warmth of the boy after he laid on him the first time, it seemed to me like he really wanted to make sure the job was done correctly. Verse 35 says he got up, walked across the room once and then stretched himself over the boy again. I kind of imagined him getting up, doing a nervous pace across the room while watching the boy and thinking, “Wow. That really just happened!” Then, maybe he thought, I better do it one more time just to make sure. I’ve had kind of a weird view of Elisha from the last few stories before this book. He seemed a little overzealous to me, for whatever reason, maybe it was the tone in which I was reading the chapters. But these stories make me think that Elisha has matured and grown and gained the trust of the townspeople, and that makes my heart warm thinking about it.
Writing prompt: maturity
Don’t you just love watching people grow? As an older person, I can say it is one of the best experiences of getting older. If you’re still young, though, you might not be able to relate to this as much as us old folk. Haha. Either way, everyone can write about watching something or someone grow into maturity. Write about that someone or something today.
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