#86. The Lord Takes Away
And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. And he said to his father, ‘My head, my head!’ So he said to a servant, ‘Carry him to his mother.’ When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
II Kings 4:18-20 NKJV
There is an interesting phrase between the parentheses of answer 66 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’s glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.” (Bold added for emphasis)
The fifth commandment is referred to in Ephesians 5:2 as the “first commandment with promise.” The general promise is a long life on Earth. But God, who is rich in mercy, abundant in grace, and full of truth, may design a child’s life to be cut short on earth for His own glory and our good.* What if God, desiring to bring a child to Himself early, direct his parents, siblings, and friends all the more to trust in the Lord, and increase the faith and witness of His church, takes someone we love dearly and brings him from this life to glory sooner than we would expect?
This is precisely what happened to the Shunammite. She had been given a son by the special gift of the Lord. After that great blessing, a day came when those fateful words were heard by the father from the mouth of his son, “My head, my head!”
The boy was still alive when he was brought home to his mother where she comforted him, cared for him, held him on her knees until noon, and then watched helplessly as he died in her arms. The gift of the Lord, taken away without warning, with nothing his parents could do to prevent it. What terrible anguish it is for the family who loses a child. There are rarely answers to the questions we direct to the Lord and to ourselves: Why? How? For what purpose?
When Job heard of the loss of his ten children at one time, he fell down to the ground and worshipped, making this confession: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away…”
The Shunammite’s son was taken away by the Lord through the means of that great enemy death (I Cor. 15:26). If we focus on death as the means of the Lord’s will may it lead us to pray for Christ’s return when death will be once and for all destroyed. May Christians also remember the one who defeated the power of death by dying on the cross for us. The Shunammite’s son was taken away by the same one who gave her her son. The Lord gave him to her, and the Lord took him away.
Sometimes it does not serve for God’s glory to grant long life to us or someone dear to us. Yet we have this truth to keep close in our minds: “Not one [sparrow] falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-30). The Lord is sovereign over the day of our birth, the Lord is sovereign over our life, may we trust Him who is sovereign over the day of our death. For a Christian, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). The Lord takes away.
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*Consider the Israelite children in Egypt (Exodus 1:15-22), David’s son (II Samuel 12:15-23), the widow of Zarephath’s son , the infant sons of Bethehem in the days of Herod (Matt. 2:16-18), Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:38); and the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17).
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