The Shunammite Woman

2 kings 4:11-21

One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a
meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, “I know that this
man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put
in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant
Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha said to him,
“Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on
your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 “About this time
next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a
son, just as Elisha had told her.

18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19 He said to
his father, “My head! My head!”
His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 After the servant had lifted him up and
carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21 She went up and
laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the
Shunammite! 26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your
child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over
to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord
has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he
got up and followed her.

32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut
the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy,
mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body
grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed
and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said,
“Take your son.” 37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and
went out.
unlike most women in the Bible, the shunammite is not strikingly significant. Apparently she isn’t
from royal blood, She apparently wasn’t endowed with great

knowledge, or skill, She wasn’t strikingly beautiful such as Sarah, or Bathsheba, or Esther, She didn’t
save her people as did Esther, nor lead her people to God, as did the Samaritan women by the well,
She wasn’t a great leader or judge, like Deborah she didn’t even have a child who became great, like
Hannah, or Jochebed. It seems, that she was just an ordinary, insignificant woman. however, God
took notice and zoomed in on her life that her accoundt had to be written down in the Bible.

today is mother's day and we are trying as much as we can to honor the mothers in our lives.they
have significantly impacted our lives and to most of us, sila ang nagdala sa aton nga makakilala kita
sa Ginoo. So today, if you are a mother, or you desire to be a mother, if you have someone you
consider to be your mother whether biological or not, I invite you to take a closer look into the life of
this Shunammite woman and discover why it mattered enough for it to be included in the Bible.

3 characteristics in the three-fold role of this Shunammite. The Shunnamite was a woman, a mother
and a believer.

1. She was a generous believer. This woman's name was not mentioned in the Bible.

2. She was a Contented Woman. Sure the Bible says that she was a well-to-do woman, meaning she
has all her basic needs covered. but you see, sa masami, indi bu-ot silingon nga madamo ka sang
kwarta, kuntento ka na. in the passage that we read, in verse 13, when Elisha wanted to repay her
goodness to them, he says to her, “look, I’ve got a little pull, I know the king, I know the army
commander, I owe you a favor, just tell me, give me the word and I’ll get it done for you.” kun sa
aton pa, manay, kilala ko si mayor.. basi may kinanglan ka da hambala lang ko ah.

kun kita iya, madaku ang mata ta siguro kag maghambal, a ti ang bata ko to wala ubra..patagai
ubra... or pwede hambala si mayor pa butangn ya ko di pulis sa gwa sang balay ko hu kay madamo
makawat, ...but this woman is diffrent. She said, politely in a way, I appreciate what you are offering
but, I have a home, I am basically safe here kay upod ako sang akon mga kaliwat, I got everyhting
covered. She has no other desires. No intentions nga padakuon ang negosyo ya, or tagaan sa exttra
nga duta, nothing.

She has not even thought about her lack of a child. She knew that this was a man of God, a holy man
of God. She could basically ask him for a miracle. but no, she doesnt becasue she feels that she has
everything that she needs.
May 3 ka mag utod nga lalaki, John, James andPeter nga nagpatikal tikal panugid sang ila nga regalo
sa ila iloy on her birthday. Their mother was quite old and they wanted it to be very memorable as
they did not know how many more years she would live. Bisan malayo sila sa iya, gin tinguhaan gid
nila nga mahatag ang ila mga regalo. Siling sang magulang si Peter, I build a mansion for our mother.
it is 2 stories with 5 rooms. The next one James said, I bough her a car, BMW. I am sure she would
love it very much! Nag siling ang kamanghuran si John, nga indi man mag papirde, I bought her a
parrot. Parrot lang? He said, as our mother is very old, this parrot can be of help to her because it
can recite the whole bible by memory. it was trained for 10 years by priests in the convent. it is more
expensive than both your gifts, i have to pledge 1 million every year to the convent and i am sue she
will love it. sooner, they recieved a similar leter from their mother. it said, Peter, Thank you for the
house, but it was too big i can no longer go up and down the stairs. i have no use for it. James, thank
you for the car, but ou see, i can hardly see and i no longer drive, i have no use for it. But oh, John,
you know exactly waht an old woman like your mother wants. Thank you for the chicken, it was
perfect for my birthday dinner! Such a simple, contented mother!

Contentment is not the absence of need but the absence of wants. Ang Shunammite woman, was
childless. When the prophet Elisha said that she will bear a child, she did not say - I dont want a
child. She said in a way, indi ko bala pag pa-asaha. So, it implies nga gusto nya man may bata sya.
But, she probably decided, since I dont have it, Indi ko na na pag ingusan. the Shunnamite, was a
woman of content. She focused of what she already had not on what she does not have. you know,
contentment is not something that is natural. You have to try and work out to be content. Ang aton
society has taught us to always want something more. Sang una maka ipod ka lang, daw si tikalon
na. Dason nag iTouch, nag ipad, nag iPhone..hasta nag iphone 1 2..6. Subong may iWatch naman.
and the media tells us, we must have it. Sang una may celphone ka lang nga tublok tublok, daw si
panikal ka na.. subong dapat touch screen gd. sang una pagamay gamay celphone.. subong pa daku
daku touchscreen. Daw wala ta sang pasingadtuan. Sang una, makwa lang ang punggod mo sang
habon ok na... subong, pati guya mo bag-uhon na. May igaganda pa pala ako.. siling sang pasayod.
We are taught to want so much more.

But Paul in philippians 4:12 says " I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have
plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength."
It is not easy to be content, but Paul has discovered the mystery of contentment.. I can do all things..
I can be content through Christ who give me strenght. This is the same contentment that the
Shunammite woman had. she decided that she will not look at what she does not have, instead, find
happiness in all that she had.

2. She is a Persistent Mother. the story goes that because she is childless, nagsiling si Gehazi nga
sidekick ni Elisha, uy daw wala ni sila bata haw kag medyo gulang na ni iya bana. In other words, daw
wala chansa haw. But eventually, God gave her a son as prophecied by Elsiha. It is something that
she DID NOT ask for in particular. But look at how she reacted when her son died. You know, she did
not insist on having a son. If the Lord takes the son away, di ba dapat daw ka relax lang sa iya? Tutal,
wala man gid na niya ginpangayo sa Ginoo. Or, she could say, ah ti, that's life ah.. the Lord gives the
Lord taketh away. But no. She insisted that something must be done. Naglakat gid sya kag pangitaon
si Elsha.

I am not a mother and I dont know if God will give me that privilege someday, although I do hope he
will, but I have seen the dynamics of motherthood than more ofthen than not leaves me in awe.
Whether its biological or not, the bond of the mother and child is really unique. This is despite the
fact that a woman's life is generally altered by the birht of a child. Ako nanami-an sang mga babies
nga mga cute, daw ka ulumol.. but i know that behing sang sina nga ka cutan, ang sakripisyo sang
ginikanan especially sang iloy, pwerti gid. Imagine, tuyo-tuyo ka na, indi ka pa katulog kay ga maoy
ang bata mo..I am sure there are plenty of times that you mothers, dont find your children cute.
especially kun ga sugod na sabat-sabat, or bato sa imo, daw indi na sila cute. But, despite that, I
know nga ang isa ka iloy, bisan impyerno sulungon ya para lang ma salbar ang iya anak. And this is
exactly why, the Shunammite woman, was persistent about letting her son live.

Do you notice in verse 18 and 19, when the son got ill, his father said to his servant "Bring him to his
mother". There is something about a mother's love that even fathers recognize that they dont have.
Dal-a na to sa iloy nya. Ang tanan gna bata, kun mag hilanat, si mama, nanay gid ang ginapangita.
That is also a characteristic of God when he says in isiah 66:13 'as a mother comforts his child, so will
i comfort you..."

Going back to this motehr's persistence, notice also that she, herself, went to Elisha. unlike the
father, dont be offended mga tatay ha, he sent his servant to bring the child to the mother, this
woman insisted of doing the job herself. She would not send the servant. She would not let anyone
do the job. She did it herself. Wala sya gani nag hatag sa iya kaugalingon sang ti-on gnga mag hibi
hibi.. just in case, indi man gid mabuhi ang anak nya.

When she got to Elisha, Elisha sent Gehazi, take my staff, tie up your garment, put this on the childs
body and Go. Here we go again, kagina ang tatay, snbng si Elisha.

but no, she did not want a representation of his power. She wanted Elisha to be there. She will not
take any chances. Siguraduhay ang iya gusto. She said, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, i
will not leave you. And he bible says, Elsiha arose and followed her.

There was a teacher who gave the following situation to a class of students. How would you advise a
mother who was pregnant with her fifth child based on the following facts. Her husband had syphilis.
She had tuberculosis. Their first child was born blind. Their second child died. Their third child was
born deaf. Their fourth child had tuberculosis. The mother is considering an abortion. Would you
advise her to have one? In view of these facts, most of the students agreed that she should have an
abortion. The teacher then announced, If you said ‘yes’ you would have just killed the great
composer Ludwig Von Beethoven!

A mother's persistence! The shunammite woman, Despite the odds, bisan pa nga gapangatubang
sya sang kasakit sang kamatayon, wala sya na dulaan sang pag asa. Maybe, a lot of us mothers are in
that spot like hers. We are facing hopelessness in the face, probably ang kapigaduhon, or mga
masakit, or failures sa aton mga kabataan...or sa aton mga relasyon... remember the persistence of
this woman. She would not let anything get in the way of getting her deliverance. her persistence
gave her the courage to walk in faith and believe that the prophet can bring her son to life.

you know waht, the beautiful thing is, God honors this persisence. If we approach his throne of
Grace and lay down sang aton mga kawsa. Jesus said, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will
give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give
good gifts to those who ask him!

the Shunammite's mother's love for her son is persistent. and God honored her persistence.