#166: Living History
Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.” Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”
II Kings 8:4-6 NKJV
Imagine being one of the Shepherds in Luke 2 who saw the night sky lit up with a multitude of the heavenly hosts of angels praising God. What would it have been like to be a standing outside the tomb of Lazarus when Jesus told him to “Come forth” in John 11? There are many parts of the gospels where we rejoice in the glory of the Lord and wonder what it would have been like to be an eye witness. One of the events I often consider is the account of Luke 4:16-22 when Jesus was in the synagogue of Nazareth and a scroll of Scripture was given Him to read. After he read Isaiah 61:1-2, He stopped reading. All eyes were fixed on Him. All mouths were silent so that all ears could hear what Jesus would say. Then Jesus said it, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)! The year of Jubilee and salvation had come and all in attendance saw the Scripture fulfilled before their eyes. Hallelujah what a Savior!
There is a lesser but similar account in II Kings 8:4-6. Gehazi the leper returns to the text after 3 chapters and we find him not with with Elisha but in the court of the king of Israel. Gehazi loved money and used his relationship with Elisha to curry favor with the wealthy. (It should be noted positively in this instance we do not see deceit like we did when Gehazi met with Naaman.) At the kings request, Gehazi seemed to be entertaining the king with stories of Israel’s great prophet. As Gehazi was telling of the Lord’s work through Elisha, he came in his record to the account of the Shunammite woman whom God gave a son, whose son died, and whose son God raised from the dead. While Gehazi was in the very act of telling the very story, the Shunammite woman herself walked into the King’s court after seven years living with the Philistines
What a day for the King, Gehazi, and all in attendance! My Lord, O King, this is the woman and her son of whom I am speaking! History came alive for the court of the King of Israel that day! In another context it may have seemed like a setup but no setup was in play here. God ordained His providence so that at the time of the Shunammite woman’s need the king would be well prepared to receive her. The King did receive her and immediately restored to her all that had been hers before she left and all the proceeds of her assets while she was away. The Lord provides!
It is easy to sit back with the Bible and wish we had seen something with our own eyes. But we have this promise, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” We see today by faith and one day soon our faith will be sight. One day we will see the culmination of all of history as we are speaking of the Savior and going about His work when suddenly the trumpet will sound and Jesus Christ of whom we are speaking will be descending with great power and glory. When Jesus spoke in Luke 4, few were prepared to meet the Messiah and they went about to kill Him. Are you prepared to meet the Lord of history?
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