Two Old Testament Cases
Read 1 Kings 17:8–24 and 2 Kings 4:18–37. What similarities and dif-
ferences do you see in these two resurrections?
In Hebrews 11, we read that by faith “women received back their
dead by resurrection” (Heb. 11:35, NASB). This was the case in the two
resurrections depicted in the texts for today.
The first one (see 1 Kings 17:8–24) occurred during the great apos-
tasy in Israel, which happened under the influence of King Ahab and
his pagan wife Jezebel. As a severe drought was ravaging the land, God
commanded Elijah to go to Zarephath, a town outside of Israel. There
he met a poor Phoenician widow who was about to cook a paltry last
meal for herself and her son—and then die. But their lives were spared
through the miracle of the flour and the oil, which didn’t run out until
the drought was over. Sometime later her son became sick and died. In
despair, the mother pled with Elijah, who cried out to the Lord. “The
Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the boy returned to
him and he revived” (1 Kings 17:22, NASB).
The second resurrection (see 2 Kings 4:18–37) took place in
Shunem, a small village south of Mount Gilboa. Elisha had helped a
poor widow to pay her debts through the miracle of filling many vessels
with oil (2 Kings 4:1–7). Later, in Shunem, he met a prominent married
woman who had no children. The prophet told her that she would have
a son, and it happened as predicted. The child grew and was healthy,
but one day got sick and died. The Shunammite woman went to Mount
Carmel and asked Elisha to come with her to see her son. Elisha prayed
persistently to the Lord, and finally the child was alive again.
These women had different backgrounds but the same saving faith.
The Phoenician widow hosted the prophet Elijah in an extremely
difficult time when there was no safe place for him in Israel. The
Shunammite woman and her husband built a special room where the
prophet Elisha could stay while passing through their region. When the
two children died, their faithful mothers appealed to those prophets of
God and had the joy of seeing their children come to life again.
These are great stories, but for each of these two accounts, how
many untold others didn’t end with something so miraculous?
What should this sad fact teach us about just how central to our
faith is the promised resurrection at the end of time?
