Wednesday | 15 April 2026
When Elisha proclaimed to the Shunamite woman that she would have a son, she immediately replied, ‘No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant!’ 2Ki 4:16. Clearly, the woman did not believe the word of the messenger proclaiming the miracle of resurrection life for sonship. It was beyond her understanding and sight. Nevertheless, the woman conceived and bore a son at the time appointed by Elisha. Significantly, this child was born according to the faith of the messenger; he was not born according to the woman’s faith, for she did not believe the word concerning her house, accusing him of lying.
When the boy was still young, he took ill while out in the field with his father. Later that day he died in the embrace of his mother. She put him in the upper room, on Elisha’s bed, and shut the door. She then asked her husband to direct one of their servants to ready a donkey that she might ‘run’ to the man of God and return. 2Ki 4:20‑22. It seems as though the woman’s husband was unclear concerning the boy’s condition (be it physical or spiritual), for he asked her, ‘Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.’ 2Ki 4:23. But the woman assured him, ‘It is well.’ 2Ki 4:23.
The man’s ignorance of the boy’s condition may have been the consequence of a vacancy in his headship. If this was the case, the Shunamite was not dissimilar from a woman who was married to a man who does not obey the word, as described by the apostle Peter. 1Pe 3:1. The Shunamite woman honoured her husband, as she did not lay blame upon him, nor demand that he take action on her behalf. This is because the woman recognised her own culpability for the situation, which she attributed to her unbelief concerning the word of the messenger.
Further Study:
Genesis 18
References:
2Ki 4:16
Then he said, ‘About this time next year you shall embrace a son.’ And she said, ‘No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant!’
2Ki 4:20-23
When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. Then she called to her husband, and said, ‘Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.’ So, he said, ‘Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.’ And she said, ‘It is well.’
1Pe 3:1
Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives.