This is the woman; and this is her son, the one Elisha restored to life.

 

Friday, October 27, 2023


Psalm 140

2 Kings 8:1-15

Matthew 17:1-13


This is the woman; and this is her son, the one Elisha restored to life.


The Shunnamite woman was sent to the land of the Philistines: a dark land, a place where evil was. This was the land of the people who had been the great foe, defeated by the even greater David, and now this woman and her family were to live there.


They were sent for seven years: the complete and perfect number. Whatever they might find in their temporary new life in the land of the Philistines, it was to be precisely no longer or less than God decreed for them.


This family survived. They return to their homeland, and not only do they get their homes back, but are given a multiplication of blessings; the amount of money that their land profited during their time away.


We Christians all are here on this earth which is not our true home. We are pilgrims; travellers moving from this life to the next. This is a place of great beauty, yes – but there is also the ancient enemy, stalking us from the shadows. But the time we spend here is not a second longer or shorter than God has planned for us. At precisely the right moment, when all the work set for us has been completed, the famine will end, and we will return to our true home. And what a homecoming that will be! The resurrected Son will tell the Father, His Father and ours, that we have come home. He will call us out by name. He will announce to all the saints and angels that another of His number has joined the heavenly banquet, that sumptuous feast of God’s immediate and undimmed presence – blessings as we could never imagine.


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