Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20040215.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSING IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part XLII: Being Encouraged That God Uses Current Trials To Yield Future Blessing
(2 Kings 8:1-6)
  1. Introduction
    1. Trials of the faith we face as believers can at times seem so overwhelming that we are tempted to feel discouraged and wonder if we will ever have a happy future (James 1:2-3 addresses such a case).
    2. For encouragement, we can heed the testimonies of believers who have gone before us and who learned lessons in their fiery trials that set them up for great, future blessings. 2 Kings 8:1-6 has such a testimony:
  2. Being Encouraged That Current Trials Will Yield Great Future Blessing, 2 Kings 8:1-6.
    1. After Elisha raised the Shunammite woman's son to life, an event that was a fierce trial for her (2 Kings 4:27-28), he told her to move her family elsewhere as God had called for a seven-year famine, 8:1a,b.
    2. Because this woman had thus previously learned the absolute truthfulness of Elisha due to what he had done in restoring her son to life, she obeyed WITHOUT QUESTION: she left the land that had made her so wealthy (cf. 2 Kings 4:8 NIV, ESV) to live the next seven, famine years in Philistine territory, 8:2.
    3. For such FULL obedience to God, she enjoyed God's special, RICH FUTURE reward, 2 Kings 8:3-6:
      1. For thus obeying God's Word, the Shunammite found God met all her living needs in special ways:
        1. When this woman returned after the famine years to beg the king for her land, God impressed the king with the testimony of Gehazi, Elisha's servant of the raising of her son from the dead, 8:4-5.
        2. The king was so impressed upon meeting this woman the instant Gehazi named this deed in Elisha's ministry that he ordered the woman's land and all its famine years of produce be given to her, 8:6!
      2. God provided for the Shunammite woman's provisional needs through the least likely king, 8:4:
        1. The presence of a famine meant Israel had disobeyed the Law, cf. 2 Kings 8:1 with Deut. 28:15, 23.
        2. The king who led disobedient Israel was Joram, son of godless Ahab and Jezebel, a man who worshipped Jeroboam's golden calf idol, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 552; 2 Kings 3:1-3 NIV.
        3. However, this evil king of all people was asking Gehazi, Elisha's servant to report to him all the great things that Elisha had done, the same prophet who had predicted Israel's recent destructive drought, and that just when the Shunammite woman approached him to ask for her land, 8:4.
        4. Thus, God moved the least likely king to grant this godly woman's property and all of its famine years worth of produce be given unto her at no cost to herself! (2 Kings 8:6)
      3. God provided for the Shunammite's needs with such timing that she would be greatly encouraged:
        1. We recall Gehazi, Elisha's servant, was permanently stricken with leprosy at Elisha's word for taking Naaman's goods in violation of God's testimony in Naaman's healing, 2 Kings 5:20-27.
        2. Since Gehazi spoke with the king in 2 Kings 8, we assume this event occurred before Gehazi had become a leper [Otherwise, his positive remarks about Elisha's deeds are even more remarkable!].
        3. Thus, the great way God timed all matters concerning this event so this woman would see His rich blessings are evident: (a) First, God made the famine precede Naaman's healing so Gehazi of all people would speak favorably about Elisha's great works just when this woman arrived to ask for her land! Then, God timed the (b) famine's length, (c) the woman's return to ask for her property (d) with the part of the conversation the king and Gehazi were having on Elisha's many works that focused on Elisha's raising of her son (e) all so the king would be amazed at the timing of it all, and (f) move to grant her the land and its produce of all the years of the famine, 2 Kings 8:1-4. (g) In the process, the woman could see God's purpose in the trying event of her son's death, and so be richly comforted: her boy's death had to occur before the famine so she would learn fully to heed Elisha for a proper response to the famine so she could see God richly bless her in the famine!
Lesson: Because God had ARRANGED for the Shunammite woman to experience the fiery trial of her faith in His Word through the excruciating trial of her son's death and resurrection, she was equipped to OBEY God's WORD FULLY in a LATER trial to see Him RICHLY BLESS her THEN!

Application: May we be encouraged from the Shunammite woman's testimony to HOPE in God's work in US to lead us to a BLESSED future BEYOND our current, fiery trials, cf. James 1:2-4, 5-7!