“IS IT WELL WITH YOU? IS IT WELL WITH YOUR HUSBAND? IS IT WELL WITH THE CHILD?” THE SECRET OF THE PREACHING CHURCH: In the first miracle, God proclaimed to the sons of the prophets that Elisha has truly become a prophet. Bearing the same power of his mentor Elijah; he divided the River Jordan with Elijah’s mantle (2 kings 2). In the second miracle, God proclaimed what Elisha had of love, and what he was given of power in the Lord. As a symbol of the Lord Christ, the Heavenly Physician; He healed the bad water, to make the village fruitful. In the third miracle, God, proclaiming Elisha’s care for the salvation of souls; allowed two bears to maul the young men who mocked the prophet, instead of giving God thanks for healing the water and the land. By that He gave the whole people a lesson of the importance of thanksgiving instead of denials, and the godly behavior instead of mockery.. In the fourth miracle, God proclaimed the riches of the men of God, and their enjoyment of exalted treasures. What the three allied kings could not do to provide their armies with water to drink, the prophet Elisha could do without wind or rain. By the conquest of the king of Moab after his defeat before the three kings, by publicly offering his firstborn son a sacrifice to his idol on the city wall, God gave a serious lesson to His people, who did not love Him, nor feared Him, or held fast to Him, the way that pagan king did to his idol. Now, if that pagan king honored his idol; and gave the people of God, who denied the true God, such a lesson; In the fifth miracle before us, God proclaims the church of the New Covenant; that, not only loves and fears God, but opens the gates of hope to all peoples and nations. While Elijah tended more to minister to the congregation as a whole, and to the people as a nation, without disregard of the ministry to the individual; Elisha, on the other hand, tended more toward the ministry to the individual, without disregard of that to the congregation. That is why, according to some, Elijah, in his ministry, was like St. John the Baptist; whereas Elisha was like the Lord Christ. In this chapter, Elisha practices the double portion he got of Elijah’s spirit (2: 9); which is apparent through the multitude of miracles he performed. This chapter presents to us a living portrait of his ministry: 1- Elisha sustains a widow and her two sons 1 - 7 2- Elisha receives hospitality from a notable Shunammite woman 8 - 10 3- Elisha fulfills the need of the notable woman 11 - 17 4- Elisha raises the dead son of the notable woman to life 18 - 37 5- Elisha heals a deadly food 38 - 41 6- Elisha satisfies a hundred men with twenty loaves of bread 42 – 44 1- ELISHA SUSTAINS A WIDOW AND HER TWO SONS: “A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my own sons to be his slaves’” (1) It so seems that the late husband of that widow, under the circumstances of severe illness, had to borrow money from a creditor; who, after the man died, sought from the widow to pay back. And as she could not afford to do, he threatened to take her two sons as his slaves. It was allowed in the old for the poor and needy who owe someone a debt, to sell themselves or their children as slaves to pay back their debts. The law seeks from the rich to show mercy on the poor brethren; and not to abuse their hard circumstances (Deuteronomy 15: 1 – 18). But the creditor, here, did not keep the law; and the work by Elisha, here, came to reveal the riches of God’s gift, of love and mercy toward those who suffer. Asking Elisha’s help, he had two options: either pay her debt back from his own pocket, or to appeal to the creditor to give her a break. But Elisha had no money enough to do the first option; and the creditor had no merciful heart to listen to the prophet’s appeal. So the prophet had to deal with a jar of oi, rather than with that man. For nature responds to the prophetic voice more than the cruel-hearted human. The laws and the by-laws allowed for selling the children as slaves to pay the debts back, yet the Holy Book allowed it within limits, so as not to abuse it; by which it prepared humanity to treat the slaves as brethren in humanity who have their rights. Furthermore, according to the Mosaic law, the creditor was committed to set his slaves free on the year of the Jubilee (Leviticus 25: 39 – 41; Nehemiah 5: 5, 8; Job 24: 9; Isaiah 50: 1). Such a complaint is revealed by whoever feels a condition of orphanhood because of sin that isolates the human soul from her heavenly Groom, as though she has lost Him to become a widow with no one to support her or satisfy all her needs. The soul becomes in need of the oil of the rich grace of God which grants us forgiveness by repentance, and the return to our Savior God; and liberates us from the cruel bondage with the devil. It is obvious that beside virgin prophets, like Elijah and Elisha, there were also married prophets, who had possessions and private businesses. + It is claimed by some that the widow concerned, was the wife of the prophet Obadiah, the treasurer of king Ahab, and a secret disciple of prophet Elijah; who hid and sustained a hundred prophets from being murdered by the evil queen Jezebel.. It so seems that although he was the keeper of the gold of the royal household; yet when he died, he left his wife with a big debt she could not pay back, and consequently her sons were to be taken as slaves by the creditor. The widow resorted to the prophet Elisha, knowing that he was “a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows” (Psalm 68: 5); and was sure that he would never hesitate to help the children of a righteous man who helped his fellow prophets in time of affliction. (St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian) “So Elisha said to her, ‘What shall I do for you? Tell me what do you have in your house? And she said, ‘Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil’” (2) “A jar of oil” (Asuk); most probably an earthen deep pot with a narrow neck; that was used by the Romans and the Egyptians for storing wine, oil, and water, with or without two handles. + That poor prophet Elisha, even though he had on earth, beside God, no silver nor gold;, yet he was rich in everything; and whatever he was asked by the needy, he gave and made them rich. A widow who was threatened by the creditor resorted to him with tears because of her affliction; Where will a widow go when afflicted, except to God, her (Husband); and to the prophet Elisha, His steward, to save her children from bondage? She hastened to resort to the Father of the fatherless; as He so promised to be; She cried out loud to the prophet, saying: “Your servant, my husband is dead, and the creditor is coming to take my sons to be his slaves”; “And you know your servant feared the Lord”. Therefore, I beg you to take his place for the sake of the Lord whom he feared; She so wisely presented her case to commit him to help her; Knowing that he was a prophet of the Lord, who promised to reward the righteous to a thousand generations; She appealed to the prophet being the Lord’s steward, to fulfill His promise; It was requested from him as though his name was in the handwritten document; and he acted with joy to do what is expected from him. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “Then he said, ‘Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors – empty vessels; do not gather just a few’” (3) He did not tell her to add them to what she had, which indicates that she did not have even empty vessels of her own. Those neighbors, most probably, were families of the other prophets, who hearing what the prophet said, hastened with faith, to provide the widow with all they had of empty vessels; God, here, calls on us on the tongue of His prophet Elisha, saying “do not gather just a few”; We, being the children of the Lord, are exhorted to seek great things, as is befitting of our Great Father: + That widow, namely the church, is burdened with a heavy debt of sins, and her creditors are extremely cruel; She made herself submitted to the devil; For as the prophet previously said to us: “For your iniquities you have sold yourselves; and for your transgressions, your mother has been put away” (Isaiah 50: 1), she became a captive, waiting for the Redeemer to come. But once Christ, our Lord, the true Redeemer came, He visited the widow, and relieved her of all her debts. … Now, let us see now, how that widow was liberated, except by an abundance of oil, which is understood as being ‘mercy’ Notice, brethren, how when the oil decreased, the debt increased; but when the oil increased , the debt decreased. … So it was when the true Elisha – our Lord Christ – came, the widow, namely the church was liberated of the debt of sin, through the increase of the oil, the gift of the grace of mercy, namely the riches of love. + Let us take into consideration what the blessed Elisha said to her: “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors – empty vessels, … and when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons, then pour it into all those vessels” (3, 4). Who is the widow, but the church, and who are her neighbors from whom she borrowed the vessels, but the Gentiles, who presented “empty vessels”, to deserve getting the oil of mercy?. Because, before they get the gift of mercy, the Gentiles were known for their lack of faith, love, and good works. Then, all those who came to get the revered baptism, and the anointment by the oil of blessing, they became, no more “empty vessels”, but filled with God, being His temple. + Notice brethren that the widow had oil in her own vessels, yet it was not enough to pay back her debts … That is true, brethren;… For, by loving only himself, it is not enough for man to pay back the debts of his sins; but once he starts to share the oil of love with all his friends, neighbors, and truly all men, he will then be satisfied and free of all debts. Yes indeed, brethren, this is the nature of the holy and true love, as much as it is spent to others, it increases with abundance in man. If you offer the bread of love to a hundred men, it will remain utterly intact, even if you offer it to the whole world, you will lose nothing of it; but it will rather increase; for the profit got by those to whom you gave will increase in you. + We are committed, therefore to search for vessels to fill with oil, namely for men. If we wish to have a flood of the oil of love, we are committed to love both the good and the wicked:: the good for the sake of their own goodness; and the wicked to become good. Yes indeed! The oil of love has such power, it makes the good better, and brings the wicked forth from the darkness of their sins, to the light of the truth. “And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones’” (4) The prophet instructed her to come in and shut the door behind her and her sons, to perceive that what she will be granted is from God living in her depths and in her house. Shutting the door refers to concentrating her sight upon the Lord, generous on giving, and not to anticipate oil from outside. In our prayers, the Lord of glory told us to shut our doors, so that our Lord would be the only subject of our thoughts and hope (Matthew 6: 6). + Saying that the widow poured the oil in the vessels while the door was shut, means that everyone of us is committed to give alms while his door is shut; namely for the sake of being worthy of finding favor with God alone, and not to do it in a way to seek commendation by men. Anyway, if man does good works for the sake of the eternal life, and of the forgiveness of his sins; even if he does them publicly, he is as though doing them while his door is shut; “For while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4: 18) (Father Caesarius, bishop of Arle) ‘So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out” (5) Having sought a double portion of the spirit of his master Elijah, Elisha got his heart’s desire. The way Elijah enjoyed the power to command nature and it obeyed, not to be rain or dew until he so commands; so has Elisha enjoyed the same power. He commanded the little oil to increase to fill the empty vessels, and it did. By so doing, the prophet confirmed that God is capable to satisfy the needs of believers, even their material needs. It is sad to see how the little oil responds to the request of the prophet, and how the blessing dwell to pay back the debt of the poor widow, and to save her two little sons; while the heart of man does not respond to show compassion. The widow let her two sons partake of the good work, by bringing the empty vessels to her to fill with the oil; to let them get the practical experience of the work of God that satisfy our needs. + The prophet asked the widow: “Tell me what do you have in your house? And she answered: Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil” . Why did the prophet ask her that? He intended to perform a miracle in her house, to increase what she already had, and to make her rich by it. By the spirit he has taken from the Lord, he could have power upon the creation, to increase or to decrease it. Saying that all she had was a little oil, he intended to increase it; If she said that she had any other thing, he would have increased it Taking the key of the great Elijah, Elisha could open and close creation; He was granted by the Lord the power to command creation, and to have them obey and serve him; When he knew that all what she had was a little oil, he instructed her to borrow empty vessels from her neighbors; And to go into her house, shut the door, and fill the empty vessels with water; and she did. By a miracle the water in the empty vessel turned into oil and she got rich.. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) (It was not mentioned in the Holy Book that she ordered her sons to fill the empty vessels with water, which turned into oil; but that it poured in them from the little oil she had in her jar), Here, talking about the behavior of the prophet Elisha, St. (Mar) Jacob El- Serougi, says that many have offered him silver, gold, and clothes, which he declined; he could have taken from them to pay back the debt of the widow, but he instead, instructed her to go into her house, together with her sons, shut the door, and have all the empty vessel filled with oil. It is a marvelous portrait of the work of the Lord Christ in His church, that presents the rich and exalted secrets of God in her; the secrets not perceived by those on the outside; by which the Lord Christ turns our cold and empty hearts, to be filled with the oil of His grace. + Who will give me a clear eye to see the secrets; and a mouth with authority to talk about the hidden things?; A soul full of the love of the Lord, of faith, and a word that is able to discern; An ear full of great love; and a longing to hear the beauty of the secrets, when described to me? In that widow who complained to Elisha, the secret was clearly portrayed for others to see; The prophet could have paid her debt back, without the oil, if he commanded the creditor to forsake it; He could have given him silver, gold, and clothes from what have been offered to him, and rejected; He asked the Shunammite woman what he could do for her sake; and was ready to talk to the king on her behalf; He, who could command the kings, why did he not command the creditor of the widow? He instead, let her go into her house, shut the door on herself and her sons; to perform the secrets he intended to do; Our Lord is the breath of prophecy; that would never live without His secrets; By that widow who entered and shut the door upon herself, Elisha portrayed the secret of the church, and of our salvation; She shut her doors and paid back her debts; and by that she portrayed the church that shut her doors to forgive sins; The secret was kept from those outside who did not perceive it; when she did what was asked from her, between herself and her two sons, inside her house; Ekisha, sent the spirit to hover in the widow’s house. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) In the widow, having brought into her house empty vessels from the neighbors, for Elisha to fill with oil, St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi, saw a living portrait of the church that brings forth humanity from all nations and peoples, to her membership, to let them all have their hearts filled with the dwelling of God in them; + Inside the house with the doors shut, the three of them uttered the secret; poured, and filled the empty vessels with great riches; The empty vessels refer to men who were empty of life and of the talent of Divinity; Inside the church, the Holy Trinity pours life, and fills everyone with His talents and treasures; These secrets that take place inside the church, is found in all the work that occurred in the widow’s house; Instructing the widow to borrow empty vessels from her neighbors; That refers to the fact that the church takes from all peoples, empty men to fill them with faith; “Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son: ‘Bring me another vessel’. And he said to her, ‘There is not another vessel’. So the oil ceased” (6) God granted the widow as much oil as the many vessels she presented. He gives His gift as much as we request, and fills as much as we can receive. Our faith and our obedience open up the storehouses of God for us to take more than we seek and more than we need. As wide as we open our mouth, He fills them. God does not cease to bless and to give us until we are full. “Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest’” (7) Elisha was called “the man of God” six times in this chapter (7, 16, 21, 22, 25, 27). The widow was so wise and godly that, when the vessels were all full, she did not act on her own, but inquired from the prophet what she should do. With a spirit of humility she did nothing without seeking the counsel of the man of God. As to the prophet, it is obvious that he, in true fatherhood, cared for all, satisfied their needs, and solved their spiritual, social, and material problems. The widow sought the urgent need to save her children from bondage; and the prophet provided her, not just that, but what would support her in her daily life. Saying: “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons live on the rest” (7). When all the vessels were full of oil, she was not preoccupied with the flood of oil, nor was amazed by the miracle, but she hastened to the man of God to tell him what happened to consummate the will of God. So it is befitting of us, in all our affairs to seek God’s counsel, and not to move according to our own. + From the symbolic aspect, we should notice three things: a- It is said that the widow filled the vessels of her neighbors with the oil that emerged in her house as a gift from God. The holy church, represented by the widow, was not deserted when her Man ascended to heaven, but filled the hearts of the nations by the oil of the knowledge of salvation, that increased and flowed in abundance in her, through the presence of the Holy Spirit. b- Seeking empty vessels from her sons, she filled them, big and small with oil. This means that the saints who reject the temporal issues, and are sealed with the holy anointment, and with the oil of gladness; everyone of them, great and small, will be granted oil by his mother, namely the grace of God, “for all things are yours” (1 Corinthians 3: 21- 22), according to the words of the apostle: “Speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head – Christ” (See Ephesians 4: 15). Those, on the other hand, who go down because of covetousness, drunkenness, and temporal preoccupations, those who – according to the apostle: ”walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts” (Ephesians 4: 17-19; Romans 1:21-24); deny themselves this grace, which, they, actually do not desire to have it, and if they do, they do not prepare a vessel to be filled with it. c- The oil left by the deceased man for his widow, refers to the mercy of Christ shown to the saints while He was with them on earth. According to the wise Solomon: “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and he will be paid back for what he has given” (Proverbs 19: 17). (St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian) 2- ELISHA RECEIVES HOSPITALITY FROM A NOTABLE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN: Having been, himself, a notable man who carried a heart wide enough for all, and cared for all, God sent to him a notable woman and her husband to care for him, set for him a place in an upper room to find comfort whenever he happened to pass by in his frequent travels, especially between the centers of prophets or their schools. In the episode of the Shunammite woman and the prophet Elisha, as recorded in the Holy Book, St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi found a magnificent source of evangelic concepts; to talk about: 1- The concept of the riches; He compared between the inner and the outer riches 2- The ministry to the saints; And how the believer would be qualified for this blessed ministry. 3- The equality between woman and man; and how she may become more zealous than him 4- Initiation of love and giving; Being among the features of the believer, he does not anticipate to be asked for anything 5- The believer is one with authority 6- The believer has an open insight 7- The believer is serious in his ministry, and wastes no time in vain compliments 8- Christ alone is the resurrection and its Grantor 9- Our homes should become churches of God, or the Golgotha, testifying to the cross of Christ “Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she constrained him to eat some food. So it was as often as he passed by, that he turned in there to eat some food” (8) “Shunem”, was a portion of the tribe of Issachar (Joshua 19: 18); It is ‘Solem’ on the south-eastern side of Mount ‘Dohi, three miles away from Jezreel. In it the Philistines dwelt before the great battle of Gilboa; and was where ‘Abishag the Shunammite’ lived (1 Kings 1: 3). Elisha often passed through Shunem, for it is on the way from Carmel to the cities of Galilee, and the schools of the prophets in Gilgal, Bethel, and other places. “A notable woman”, It is obvious from what is said about her that she was a rich woman, or the wife of a rich man; yet more godly and clever than him; beside being generous and zealous.. Even in the midst of difficult years because of corruption and idol-worship, there were godly people, notable in their private life. Having forsaken his possessions, and opted for poverty, finding in the Lord his God his treasure, riches, satisfaction, and peace, Elisha carried that treasure in his depths wherever he went. He did not feel need, but flowed riches over whomever he encountered; as it so happened with the Shunammite woman. That made St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi open his poem ‘On Elisha and the Shunammite Woman’, by the following comparison between the inner and the outer riches: a- The outer riches represents a burden on man, that makes him try to find a secure place to keep it, for fear of being stolen. The inner riches of God dwelling in man, on the other hand, grants man a secure happy life. b- The outer riches sets snares for its possessor, that may probably lead to his perdition; whereas the inner riches brings its possessor forth to a blessed life. c- The outer riches is like a chain that binds its possessor, and make him lose his freedom; whereas in the inner riches there is perfect freedom, carried by its possessor wherever he goes. + As the riches of this world is a burden upon its possessor, By You, O Lord I am rich, for Your riches is life for whoever loves You; Every possession of man outside You is a great trap that strangles him who possesses it; Let us, O Lord, possess You; for You are the riches that would never be robbed, that makes whoever seeks it, win good life and blessing; As the outer riches will eventually change or pass away from its possessor, why would he rejoice in it? The true riches is the inner one which man carries with him wherever he goes The servants of the Lord were only rich in the Lord, and poor in all the things of the world; They were poor in the possessions of their short time on earth, but rich in God and His talents; That is the true riches for those who know it; that abides in those who acquire it without change; That is why the righteous seek it, for from it come all riches without change. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) The Shunammite woman was worthy to have Elisha dwell in her house whenever he passes by, on his way to Carmel; as his soul found comfort in that godly woman. In this he was a symbol of the Lord Christ who used to find comfort in the house of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha in Bethany. And the Lord Christ commanded His disciples, whenever they enter into any city, to dwell in the house of whoever is worthy of that by his godly life, holy in the Lord. + He turned in to the house of the Shunammite woman who was worthy to receive him by the love of her faith; He was following the new commandment of the Lord since the beginning of his life, yet according to the Old Testament The Lord commanded His apostles when they enter a city to inquire: who is worthy to dwell in his house; And as it is the same spirit in the old and the new, Elisha acted with enlightenment; Seeing that the Shunammite woman was worthy to receive him, he perpetually visited her whenever he passed by; You can appreciate her worthiness from her talk to her husband concerning Elisha; Wisely, she said to her husband concerning Elisha: “I know that this is a holy man of God” By so saying the beauty of her faith was apparent. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) + According to an elder: [It is said that the Shunammite woman refers to the soul, while the prophet Elisha refers to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, once the soul keeps away from the carnal preoccupations, the Holy Spirit will dwell on her; Then, even if she is barren, she will conceive and give birth]. + According to Abba Bemen: [One day I went to Abba Amon and asked him to tell me a wise word of benefit. He said to me: Doing good saves man from Hades and perdition. Look at how the virtue of Tabitha raised her from the dead (Acts 9: 36-42); How the prophet Elisha raised the son of a woman who did him good;(2 kings 4); and how king Hezekiah, because of his righteousness and good works, fifteen years were added to his life (2 Kings 20: 1-11). + A brother said to Abba Cronius: Tell me a word of benefit, and he said: {The Shunammite woman refers to the soul; and the prophet Elisha to the Spirit of God. If the soul is alert, away from every preoccupation, and rejects her own will; On her, the Spirit of God will dwell, and she could give fruit, even if she is barren. (The paradise of the fathers) “And she said to her husband, ‘Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly” (9) Saying: I know that this is a holy man of God”, she means that, being faithful in dedicating his life to the ministry to the Holy One, he became His possession. + After the ascension of the prophet Elijah, Elisha took his place as the head and care-taker of the sons of the prophets. Accordingly, he was committed to visit their dwelling place in Bethel, Jericho, and at the Jordan. While so doing, he had to pass through the village of Shunem, and used, every now and then, to turn in to the house of the Shunammite woman; who, wisely perceiving that his visit would bless her house, she counseled her husband to build for the holy man a small upper room, isolated and separated from those dwelling in the house. (St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian) According to St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi, Even though woman is equal to man in the human nature, her mental capacity and wisdom, yet she is superior to him in that she can realize what she intends to do, whether good or evil. According to him, as well, the Shunammite woman was a living role model of the righteous woman, with a holy mind, a role model to her husband, and a source of blessing for all her household. + The Shunammite woman gave women a living portrait full of beauty, to see and to imitate in their relation with their husbands. It is easy for a woman to exhort her husband on everything beautiful; and by her faith, she could be a source of goodness for her household; According to nature, women do not lack knowledge; and if they so choose, they could be very wise; Even though the habit of slothfulness and the vain love of the world, have brought some women down from the knowledge of God; Yet, naturally, men and women are equally created; in mind, discernment, and understanding; It is easy for a woman to understand everything clearly; unless she is overcome by the habit of slothfulness; Like a man, what she intends to do, she does; If she so chooses, she could be very eloquent to commend; and when she hates, she could be as efficient to curse; If she chooses, she could be very active and enlightened in the divine teaching; Look at the Shunammite woman, whom all women should imitate; In practicing teaching righteousness, and being bound to holy thoughts; For by that they would become the cause of blessing to their husbands, and would be role models of everything of benefit to their households. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “Please, let us make a small room on the wall, and let us put a bed for him there and a table and a chair, and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there’” (10) The upper room (aliyah) in the East, was a room built by those who could afford, on the roof of houses especially those on the highway, furnished in a way befitting to guests, who could move freely up and down by a staircase outside the house.. It could also be a favorable place for the man of the house to retreat for some time if he wants to. The prophet Elijah dwelt in such a room in the house of the widow of Zarephath which belongs to Sidon (1 kings 17: 19, 23). King Ahaziah was in such a room in his palace in Samaria, when he fell down from the lattice (2 kings !: 2); Eglon king of Moab was in such a room when he was murdered by Ehud (Judges 3: 20, 23). To such a room, David went to mourn his son Absalom (2 Samuel 18: 24); In such a room Daniel used to pray three times daily (Daniel 9: 10); And the upper room was used with a symbolic meaning in Jeremiah 22: 13, 14; and psalm 104: 3, 13. In the New Testament, the Lord Christ established the sacrament of the Eucharist in the upper room of the house of Mary, mother of the apostle Mark (Mark 14: 15; Luke 22: 12). According to ‘James Freeman’, the original word in the second book of the kings came as ‘Kisse’, which does not literally mean an upper room, but used sometimes even to mean a throne.. And according to the scholar Origen, the upper room refers to going up to the spiritual interpretation of the Holy Book, instead of going down to the dungeon of the literal interpretation thereof. + It is only logic for Jeremiah to be struck like Paul, and even like the Lord Christ. “Now Pashur the priest, struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin (Jeremiah 20: 1, 2). The stocks were in the upper floor . The tribe of Benjamin, as indicated in the Book of Joshua had Jerusalem as their portion of inheritance, where the temple of the Lord was … Despite the fact that there was an upper floor in the house of the Lord, yet Pashur chose to put Jeremiah in the lower dungeon. …. As for us, we intend to take Jeremiah now and move him to the upper floor of the house of the Lord; namely to the high spiritual meaning, as I shall make clear through many texts in the Holy Book, that confirm that the righteous receive the prophets in the higher floors, as did the widow of Zarephath whom the Lord chose to sustain the prophet Elijah in the upper room of her house (1 kings 17: 19). So also did the Shunammite woman who used to give hospitality to the prophet Elisha, and made for him an upper room to find comfort whenever he passed her by. (2 kings 4: 8-10). … On the contrary, the sinner king Ahaziah fell down from a lattice in the upper floor (2 kings 1: 2)…. The Lord Christ commands you, as well, not to go down from the roof, saying: “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house” (Matthew 24: 15-17). 3- ELISHA FULFILLS THE NEED OF THE NOTABLE WOMAN: “And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there” (11) “Then he said to Gehazi his servant, ‘Call this Shunammite woman’. When he had called her she stood before him” (12) By the words “his servant” they used to call someone under training, more so than someone who serves. Elisha himself was so called in his relationship with the prophet Elijah (1 kings 19: 21). Yet ‘Gehazi’, by his evil action showed that he was not worthy to succeed Elisha, the way Elisha succeeded the prophet Elijah. + The non-material divine fire has its activity in stirring the souls up, testing and refining them as the gold is tested and refined in the crucible. But it consumes all evil like thorns and thistles, “For God is a consuming fire” (Hebrew 12: 29); “A flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1: 8). Such a fire appeared to the prophet Moses in the burning bush; and came down like a chariot of fire that took Elijah up from earth to heaven (2 kings 4: 11). The blessed David sought the activity of such at fire when he said, “Examine me, Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart” (Psalm 26: 2). (St. Maccari the Great) “And he said to him, ‘Say now to her, ‘Look you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ And she answered, ‘I dwell among my own people’” (13) Elisha was generous; he intended to pay back everyone who did him good, with any service he might be in need for. The king, though evil, yet he and his commander of the army used to honor Elisha and listen to him (3: 12; 6: 9, 21; 13: 14). Elisha, not wishing to misuse the love of the notable woman, asked her if he could do her any favor . He was used, to pay the gift by a gift, and the love with a practical deed of love. The church calls God “The Beneficent” for He initiates giving to His beloved children. So Elisha, like His God, intended to do good to the notable woman. She asked him for nothing, but he was the one who asked her what he could do for her. … It is so befitting of every believer to initiate by his whole heart to give without being asked + Notice how the blessed Paul cares for the needs of the temporal and spiritual needs of the (wrestlers); Listen to him commending the church concerning one woman, saying: “I commend you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever she has need of you, for indeed she has been a helper of many, and of myself also” (Romans 16: 1); And, “I urge you, brethren – you know the household of Stephanus, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and how they have devoted themselves in the ministry of the saints; that you also submit to such, and to everyone who works and labors with us” (1 Corinthians 16: 18). With the spirit of love of the saints, helping the others in temporal things. Elisha helped the Shunammite woman, who gave him hospitality, both materially and spiritually (2 kings 4: 12); saying to her: “You have been concerned for us with all this care’ What can I do for you Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army” (2 kings 4: 13). (St. John Chrysostom) + By her faith, she showed the way to her husband; and let him build for the saint (Elisha) a holy residence in her house; By her loving soul, faith and discernment, she said to her husband, “I know this is a holy man of God” She gave the counsel, and the man, responding to the request of his believing wife, built a place for the prophet to stay whenever he passed by; Being like his God, Elisha intended to reward the good woman; the way God rewards the good deeds of his beloved servants;; As God gives to those who seek from Him; and intends to respond to every supplication by His believers; By the same principle, the prophet inquired from her if she needs him to talk on her to the king or to the commander of the army.. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “So he said, ‘What then is to be done for her?’ And Gehazi answered, ‘Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old’” (14) The woman did not tell the prophet that she was barren, and has no son; probably because she has lost all hope in that issue; but Gehazi, perceiving the feelings of a barren woman married to an old man; with nothing to satisfy her motherhood; and no one to inherit her large fortune, counseled the prophet, not to talk on her behalf to the king or to the commander of the army, but to God, who, alone, can grant her a son. Gehazi believed in God of the impossible. Abba Isaiah said: Abba Pavnotius told me: [I used to visit the two elder fathers: Abba Anob, and Abba Bemen, twice a month all along their life on earth. And my cell was 12 miles far from theirs. Asking them about what went on in my mind, they said to me:: Make no name for yourself in the place where you dwell, in order to find comfort. The Shunammite woman gave hospitality to the prophet Elisha, for she was not much preoccupied with her man (2 kings 4: 14-17). And we say that the Shunammite woman refers to the soul, and Elisha to the Spirit of the Lord; and if the soul lives fat away from any evil deeds, the Spirit of God would visits her; and she, after being barren, could give birth to a son]. “And he said, ‘Call her’. When he had called her, she stood in the doorway” (15) “Then he said, ‘About this time next year you shall embrace a son’. And she said, ‘No my lord, Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant’” (16) In her state of despair for such a long time, the woman thought that the man of God lied to her, not intentionally, but out of his love, faithfulness, and longing to reward her. He sought for her to have a son, although, on his own, he was unable to fulfill that promise, for it is beyond his authority or of anyone else.. Hearing that the woman was barren, and her man was old, the prophet Elisha remembered Sarah and Abraham, and how God granted them a blessed son. He truly believed that God is capable to set in the stony womb of the woman children of the Lord. + The prophet intended to pray to God to give her a son, she did not ask for ; Hearing that the woman was barren and her husband was an old man, He wrestled against barrenness and old age, and the great prophet got fruition of both; As the word of God was in the mouth of that prophet, it was easy for him to make children out of stones; From his lips came an active power; and nature could not disobey his command; With confidence he promised the barren woman, who rejoiced in the fruit; and the household became rich with a beloved heir; Elisha, when he gave the promise; the barren womb gave fruition; and the Shunammite woman rejoiced in a son to embrace. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi Elisha presents to us a living example of the life of solitude and meditation. According to him solitude is a fellowship with God, with work by the Spirit of the Lord to the account of His kingdom, and to the edification of the people of God. The solitude is not isolation nor slothfulness and idleness. + Let us compare between the comfort of Elisha, and that of others, who, in order to seek comfort, and to give themselves peace of mind and tranquility, would take their minds away from work, and retreat from the fellowship and company of men. Quietly, and with no publicity, Elisha divided the River Jordan. The lower end flowed ahead, and the upper end retreated to its source. On the Carmel he promised the barren woman to have an unexpected child of her own (2 Kings 4: 6) He raised a man from the dead (2 kings 4: 34) He turned the bitterness of food sweet by mixing it with flour (2 kings 4: 14) Giving twenty loaves of bread to a hundred men, they gathered together the fragments that remained after they were satisfied (2 kings 4: 44); He made the iron head of an ax float by casting a branch of a tree into the water (2 kings 6: 6) He healed the leper and made him clean (2 Kings 5: 10) He turned the draught into rain (2 kings 3: 17) He turned the famine into abundance (2 kings 7: 1) How could the righteous be in solitude, when God is perpetually with him? …. How could he be forsaken, who has never be separated from Christ? … According to the blessed Paul: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? … For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come … “ (See Romans 8: 35, 38). (St. Ambrose) “And the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her” (17) The barren, almost dead womb conceiving; and giving birth to a child, represents our enjoyment of the new life in the Lord, instead of death. + For many, to believe that a virgin could conceive and give birth; certain barren women, and even old ones, were so granted; to prepare the minds of men to believe that it could happen. + The same way a barren woman, by the prayers of Elisha, gave birth to a child, the church was also barren before the coming of the Lord Christ, then gave birth to the Christian people, once He came. And as the child of that woman died during the absence of Elisha, and came back to life when he came down from the mountain, the son of the church who died for sin, came back to life when the Lord Christ came down from heaven. 4- ELISHA RAISES THE DEAD SON OF THE NOTABLE WOMAN TO LIFE: “So the child grew.. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers” (18) The land of Shunem is still fertile; and it is obvious that the woman’s husband was a rich man who had many servants and reapers. “And he said to his father, ‘My head, my head’. So he said to a servant, ‘Carry him to his mother’” (19) “When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died” (20) The death of the son of the Shunammite woman was not a sign of God’s anger against her, but was for God to be glorified in His prophet Elisha. By his prayer God granted a son to the woman; and by his prayer he brought him back alive to her after his death. God is the Grantor of life, and who raises from the death. + Intending for His chosen servant to conquer, God made him great by the signs he let him perform. He sent death to pluck the precious fruit that has grown; and the barren woman who conceived him put on the mourning dress. He granted him to her, then took him back, to reveal His great might; For the life and death of the whole world are in His hands. By the death of the child, God was not only glorified, and Elisha not only has got honor in the Lord; but the Shunammite woman was justified as well; and her faith in God who can raise from the dead was revealed. When her child died, she did not seek condolence from her man, nor from her household; Despair did not crawl into her heart; nor she thought of burying him; but she carried him and laid him on the prophet’s bed, trusting in God’s work through him. + God’s ordinance is greatly exalted, and there is no fault in his wise works; His works amaze the privileged; and are not perceived except by the loving faithful. Even when God takes something away from man, it is as though He gives, for him who meditates in it. When God granted the barren woman a child, and when He took him back, He dealt with the same grace; He granted the barren woman a child, but she lost him; then He came back and gave her the dead child alive to let her rejoice in him; He doubled the gift He gave , to increase its beauty, and to let the prophet be commended by it; He gave His prophet the power to give children to the barren; and added to him the power to raise the dead; By his prophecy he made the womb and the pit give fruition; and showed his ability in the two bosoms that were barren; And in order for His might to conquer n the whole world, God let the son of the Shunammite woman die; God saw how great was her faith, when she asked Him without doubt to raise the dead child; God knew that she will not leave the godly man until he raises her child from the dead; (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) + Surely, death is not punishment, for the saints go through it as well; and even the Lord of the saints, Himself, He who is their life and death, went through it. (The by-laws of the saintly apostles) “And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out” (21) Her behavior reveals about the prayer received by God; when we cast our issues in His hands, without seeking a particular thing; but accept His holy and wise will. According to St (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi, the Shunammite woman, seeing the prophet Elisha as a symbol of the Lord Christ, the Lion coming out from the tribe of Judah, who roars to kill death, she brought her child up to the upper room, as though to the church of Christ, and laid him on the prophet’s bed; as though she brought him into the tomb of Christ. … The battle is, therefore between the Lion, the Grantor of life, and death, that cannot confront the Grantor of resurrection. + Her beloved son dies; and instead of opening a tomb for him, she brought him up to the upper room, that gives life; She knew him who dwells in the house; she was sure that he will soon come, and with him, life will shine; She put the child on Elisha’s bed and closed the door, anticipating Elisha to come and drive death out; She laid the corpse on the godly man’s bed, to come and crush death that crushed the little child; She brought the dead into the Lion’s den, and closed the door, for the man of God to roar on death and drive him away. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “Then she called to her husband, and said, ‘Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back” (22) She laid her son on the prophet’s bed in the upper room, and shut the door upon him, so that her husband and the rest of her household would not know what happened, to avoid any confusion; a kind of behavior that reveals her faith that the man of God, by whose prayer God granted her the child, when she was barren, and her womb was utterly dead; can, as well, by his prayer raise him from the dead in the name of the living God. From Shunem to the Carmel was a distance of six hours walk; and it was very rare that such a notable woman walk it out, but would mount a donkey or a horse. “So he said, Why are you going to him today? It is neither the new Moon nor the Sabbath’. And she said, ‘It is well’” (23) On the days of feasts the believers do not perform their daily work, but dedicate the day for worship and ministry; they go to the house of the Lord to practice spiritual work (Exodus 20: 9-12; Amos 8: 5). It is clear that, in spite of the fact that idol-worship at that time prevailed on the land, there were still some remnants who worshipped the true God, and celebrate the feasts, specially together with the prophets. She did not speak to her husband, for she was in a hurry to go to the man of God, and for fear that he may not let her go, as long as the child is already dead. The prophets were probably used to hold meetings to teach the people on the head of the months and the Sabbaths Hence, according to the prophet Amos, the greedy, say; “When will the new moon be past, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat?” (Amos 8: 5); namely, they preferred their daily works to keeping the holy days, or listening to the word of God, and to the teachings of the prophets. Having surely believed that Elisha was capable, by the Lord, to raise her dead child, the Shunammite woman hid the matter from her man until the child is raised alive; for, probably being aware of his relatively weak faith, she did not want to confuse him, or make him grumble with protest.. + She laid the dead body on the prophet’s bed, and set forth on her way, to let the prophet come and bring back the captive that death has taken away from her; She went to call the physician who knows how to make the dead live; By her faith she perceived that, by his capable power, he could act like a mighty man; She went up to his mount to bring him along, to raise the child up from the pit of death; She hid the calamity from her husband, lest he might protest, until the child is already raised from death. Then she would tell him everything. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, ‘Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you” (24) “So she departed and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. “And so it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, ‘Look, there is the Shunammite woman’” (25) “Please, run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ And she answered, ‘It is well’” (26) Saying “It is well” to Gehazi, means that she was in a hurry to meet the prophet, for the issue is too serious to waste any time talking to him. The prophet’s three questions reveal the peace in his heart for every one. She wanted to talk directly to the prophet, as he alone could partake of her feelings, and had the power by the Lord to do the impossible to her; According to the custom in the East, in case you ask somebody about someone else’s health, you know for sure is ill, he would answer “He is well, thank Goodness”, even if he adds that he has already departed. One of the examples presented by the scholar Tertullian to confirm the unity of the Old and the New covenants, was that Elisha’s commandment here bears a symbol and harmony with that the Lord Christ gave to His disciples when He sent them to preach (Luke 10: 4-9). “Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet; but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, ‘Let her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me’” (27) All what preoccupied Gehazi was to keep the woman from catching the man of God by his feet; Whereas the prophet was preoccupied with seeing the bitterness of her soul to help her, regardless of any outer inconvenience.. By saying: “The Lord had hidden it from me, and has not told me”, It is clear that hiding the issue was exceptional; and that the Lord used to reveal everything to His prophet; but in this case, for a divine wisdom, he did not tell him about the bitterness in the soul of the woman. She caught him by the feet”, Such a behavior reveals a kind of humility and giving honor to the prophet (Matthew 28: 9) Commenting to the reaction by Gehazi here, St. Clement the Roman says that so was the nature of life of Elisha; no foreign woman was allowed to have the daring to catch him by the feet. + But here the prophet did not allow his servant to keep the woman away, saying: “Let her alone, for her soul is in deep distress”, to refer that she must have a good reason to act in such a way; she must be in anguish. God will never let you down when you approach Him while in distress; That is why the Lord Christ blessed those who mourn (Mathew 5: 4).. (St. John Chrysostom) + Sorrow leads to crying-out, and to raise fervent supplication to God, and will surely bring forth His response and help. .When Elisha saw how the woman approached him with great sorrow and intense grief, he did not let his servant stop her, but allowed her to come to him, and responded to her request.(2 kings 4: 17). Therefore, O Christian, in your distress, do not despair, but cry-out to the Lord. (Father Onesimus of Jerusalem) The words by St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi kindles the heart to long to get attached to the Lord; for the Lord intends to grant those who love Him an open insight; and does not hide a thing from them; And even if He does it from someone, it would be for his edification and glory. Elisha, like his master the prophet Elijah, perceived even the heavenly secrets; nothing was hidden from him except by a divine ordinance for edification. + If God did not hide it from His prophet, he would have hastened to keep death away from the child; But that would not be as great as raising him from the dead, and giving him back to his mother. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “And she said, ‘Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?” (28) The bitterness in her soul by the death of her only begotten child, God’s gift to her, was more intense than her bitterness when she was barren with no child. She addressed the prophet saying: “Did I ask a son of my Lord? Did I not say, do not deceive me?”. By these two questions, Elisha probably thought at first that the child was ill, but he soon perceived that he died. “Then he said to Gehazi, ‘Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child’” (29) Elisha’s command to his servant was to be on his way, not to greet anyone, and not to answer anyone who greets him; For it is befitting of the minister to consecrate all his time to the testimony to the gospel of Christ, as much as he can. Elisha told his servant to take his staff in his hand; for he probably felt that it bears a power the way Moses’ staff, and Elijah’s mantle had; but God did not intend it to be done that way. + The monks use the staff imitating the prophet Elisha (2 kings 4: 29). As to its spiritual concept, it is unbefitting of the monk to go unarmed among the dogs of sin that bark, and the unseen spiritual beasts in evil; those which the prophet David intended to free himself from, says: “Do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast” (Psalm 74: 19). When they attack him, he is committed to strike them with the sign of the cross, and drive them away. And if they are fiercely stirred up against him, he should scatter them by his perpetually reconciled life, through his endurance of the passion of the Lord, and through following up the example of the life of faithfulness. (St. John Cassian) According to St. Augustine, the staff Elisha gave to his servant to put upon the dead child, that failed to restore him to life, is the law sent by the Lord through His servants the prophets; but the child would not be restored to life except by the coming of the lord Christ, our Lord, Himself. Gehazi setting forth with Elisha’s staff, refers to the work of the law, helpless to raise the dead. And Elisha setting forth, refers to the work of the Lord Christ, the Grantor of grace, and who, alone, can raise from the dead…. The law through his servant, and the mercy through himself. The law, as though in the staff failed to bring the child back to life, “For, if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Galatians 3: 21); But the mercy, as though, in Elisha himself, who bears the symbol of Christ in giving life to the dead; the meaning bound to the great secret of the New Covenant. (St Augustine) Commenting on this command, St. Ambrose says [ that the Lord did not forbid us from giving the greetings of peace, but forbids giving it while on the way to preach.. Elisha gave his servant the same command (2 kings 4: 29), to hasten to consummate the mission. Giving a greeting of peace is a beautiful custom; but consummating the divine works is more beautiful; and any delay in doing it would bring displeasure]. + Notice that the Lord did not say to His disciples “Greet no one””; but saying, “Greet no one on the road” (Luke 10: 4) which implies no lack of care for those they encounter When Elisha, sent his servant to put his staff on the body of the dead child, he commanded him to hasten to go, to consummate the mission of preaching by resurrection, lest he would be delayed on his mission by unnecessary debate with anyone on the way. He did not take away the zeal to give the greeting of peace; but sought taking away any obstacle on the way of godliness. When a divine commands are given, human commitments take the second priority. (St. Ambrose) + By fervently seeking from the man of God, she committed him to do according to her request. He sent Gehazi with his staff, and commanded him to go quietly and not to waste any time on his way He told him: “If you meet anyone do not greet him; and if he greets you, do not answer him” That was the same command the Lord Christ gave to His disciple: “Greet no one along the road” The two commands were said with the same spirit; for our Lord granted the prophets His Spirit. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “And the mother of the child said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you’. So he arose and followed her” (30) The woman used the same language of the prophet, saying: “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives”; and the same language he uttered when he refused to forsake his master Elijah (2: 2, 4, 6). “Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, ‘The child has not awakened’” (31) It was impossible for Elisha’s staff to bring the child to life; for like the law, both are unable to save humanity without the incarnate Word of God. Elisha’s staff refers also to the ark of the covenant, or the divine presence, as well as to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before the ark of the covenant the River Jordan was divided, and the priests together with the people crossed over to the promised land. While when the wicked priests, like the two sons of Eli the priest, carried it, the people were defeated and the ark was taken over by the pagans. It is the same with the name or with the cross of Christ, by which the disciples performed signs and miracles; whereas when it was uttered by the sons of Sceva to drive the demons out, the demons attacked them and prevailed over them (Acts 19: 14). So, when it happened with Gehazi, the weakness was not in the Elisha’s staff itself, but in its bearer (Gehazi) who was empty of the grace of God. + Gehazi took the staff and went ahead of them; and when he reached the house he laid the staff on the face of the child, according to his master’s command. Death did not move out of the child. The weak staff did not have the power to bring him back to life, for its bearer was empty of grace and not up to the miracle; The ark of the covenant that divided the river, broke the walls down, and by which Joshua, the great priest, performed miracles; That ark, itself, was captivated and humiliated together with his people; It did not overcome in the hands of wicked priests; as Elisha’s staff did not perform in the hands of Gehazi; The weak carried a strong staff, but could not perform a miracle; as the ark could not overcome by the wicked who carried it. (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “And when Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed” (32) “He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord” (33) Resorting to prayer, Elisha revealed what was in his heart and mind: 1- His love for the child and his care for his parents. 2- Seeking refuge and trusting in God; not in the staff, in the servant, or even in himself 3- Being sure that God listens and will respond; and that He is able to raise from the dead “And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm” (34) As the staff of Elisha could not raise the dead, there was need for the prophet to put his mouth on the child’s mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, etc. In that he was a symbol of the Lord Christ who delivered His life to redeem us. According to St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian, what Elisha did, refers to the incarnation of the Word of God, who became Man, less than the angels (Hebrew 2: 9), to raise us from the dead. And the prophet contracted his body to the size of the little child for our sake. + The servant could not raise the dead child by his master’s staff, as testified by the apostle Paul, saying: “For the law made nothing perfect” (Hebrew 7: 19); but when the master himself came, and, with humility, stretched himself out on the child, accommodating his body to that of the dead child, “Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2: 6-7). By breathing on the dead body, proclaiming the divine gift, the Spirit grants the seven-fold grace on those who are cast in the death of sin. The child was brought forth to life; he whom the staff of fear could not revive, came back to life by the spirit of love. (Pope Gregory the Great) + If, instead of contracting his body, the prophet did the contrary, he would not be able to bring the child back to life; So it is, to give life, the Lord Christ made Himself less; … Even though He is according to the image and likeness of God, He adopted the human form;… He made Himself less, to make us more…. He decreased so that we increase through Him. (St Jerome) + Several examples in the gospels testify to the resurrection from the dead; Now, let us bring back to memory few of them: Raising Lazarus, four days after his death; Raising the widow’s son; Raising the daughter of the head of the synagogue; and when the earth quaked, the rocks split, and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised (Matthew 27: 52(.And above all, let us remember that Christ Himself is risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15: 20) Let us also talk about how the prophet Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead; and how the prophet Elisha raised the dead twice: once in his life, and another after his death. In his life he raised the dead by his soul (2 kings 4: 34); but in order to confirm that not only the souls of the godly men are so honored, but, in their bodies, as well, there is power; the corpse of a dead man cast in Elisha’s tomb, came back to life when it touched the dead body of the prophet (2 kings 13: 21); he who died and was buried brought life back to the dead; even though he who gave the life remained among the dead, … Why? …. For if Elisha came back to life, the work would then be only referred to his ‘soul’. But to show that, even in the absence of the soul, the virtue still dwells in the bodies of the saints, in which their godly soul dwelt for so long.. Let us then refrain from foolishly denying that all those events have actually happened; for if the shadows, handkerchiefs, and aprons of the apostles healed the sick by touch, how would it be with the body of the prophet who used to raise the dead. (St. Cyril of Jerusalem) + That disciple of Elisha refers to the blessed Moses, whom God sent to Egypt with his staff. For without Christ, Moses would not be able to save the people from the original sin. According to the apostle, “The law made nothing perfect” Hebrew 7: 19). There was need for Him who sent the staff to come down himself. The staff without Elisha is useless; as the cross without Christ is powerless. + Elisha bowed down to bring the child to life; And Christ became humble to save the world cast into sin Elisha put his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. Notice, O brethren how a grown-up man contracts his own body to accommodate that of a little dead one. What Elisha did in the case of the child, was completely realized by Christ for the sake of the human race. Listen to the words of the apostle, saying: “He (Christ) humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2: 8). … The compassionate physician bowed down; For no one, O brethren, can lift up someone cast on the ground, if he refrain from bowing down. “He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes” (35) + The child sneezing seven times, reveals the seven-fold grace granted by the Holy Spirit to the human race by the coming of the Lord Christ to bring them back to life; according to the words of the apostle saying: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (See Romans 8: 9) …. (Father Caesarius, bishop of Arle) Walking back and forth in the house tells how confused the prophet was, but, even though God did not respond instantly to him; Yet he did not lose confidence in God’s ability to raise the child from the dead. According to St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian, moving back and forth refers to the entrance of the Lord Christ into the houses of men, to dwell among them, and to partake of their life. + Notice how ‘Salmus’, the blind Jew, commenting on the resurrection of the Lord Christ, says: [This is the question: Is it possible for someone who truly died to resurrect with a true body?] … It was unbefitting of a Jew to say such a thing; if he believes in what came in the two books of the kings, concerning the two cases of raising the dead: one by Elijah (1 kings 17: 21-22), and the other by Elisha (2 Kings 4: 34-35). Jesus came to no other nation but to the Jews, who were used to see miraculous events. And if they compare the wondrous works done by Jesus with those done by who preceded Him, they will confess that He was greater than all. (The scholar Origen) “And he called Gehazi and said, ‘Call the Shunammite woman’; So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, ‘Pick up your son’” (36) “So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed on the ground; then she picked up her son and went out” (37) With bitterness of her soul, that notable woman who previously fell at the prophet’s feet because of grief on her son; Now she so does because of her joy, and to express her gratitude for bringing him back to life. 4- ELISHA HEALS A DEADlY FOOD: “And Elisa returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, ‘Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets’” (38) Gilgal; about a mile north-east of Jericho; was the first place to where Israel came after crossing over the Jordan (Joshua 4: 19-29). He probably refers here to the famine that continued for seven years (2 kings 8: 1-2). “So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lap-full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were” (39) According to St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian, that ‘one’ who was responsible of taking care of the daily sustenance of the sons of the prophets, went out into the field to gather herbs; and finding none of what he was familiar with, he gathered what he did not know, wild gourds, not suitable to eat, bitter, and causes acute diarrhea, stomachache, and vomiting.. In the Syrian language ‘Pechitta’, St. Ephraim it was quoted by St. Ephraim as ‘Colocynths’. + The sons of the prophets, the monks of the old covenant, who built for themselves huts close to the River Jordan, away from the crowded cities; .lived on soup and wild herbs (2 kings 4: 38-39; 6: 1-2). As long as you are at home, make your cell your paradise, where you gather the various fruits of the Holy Books. Let them be your favorite company; and bear their commandments in your heart. (St. Jerome) + Why was Elisha’s life a role model of a biography? Just meditate in how he was given hospitality by the Shunammite notable woman; and how he, himself, gave it to the sons of the prophets. Meditate in how, by the prayers of that fasting prophet – as death was at the door, waiting for those who ate of that deadly food – poison disappeared from the pot (2 kings 4: 39-41) (St. Cyril the Great) “Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew that they cried out and said, ‘O, man of God, there is death in the pot’. And they could not eat it” (40) Recognizing it by its bitter taste, they stopped eating before it was too late. They cried out to the prophet Elisha, who asked them to bring some flour, to put it into the pot, and serve it to the people that they may eat; When they so did, they ate and were satisfied. As the world present to us nothing but death, there was need to add flour to the pot to bring forth life instead of death. That flour is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ who became “the Bread of life”, whoever eats it will enjoy the eternal life (John 6: 53). “So he said, ‘Then bring in some flour’, and he put it into the pot, and he said, ‘Serve it to the people, that they may eat’, and there was nothing harmful in the pot” (41) The flour carries no miraculous power to remove the deadly poison from the food, but it was Elisha’s faith in the power, might, and love of God, that did. Although flour has nothing in its constituents to neutralize the poison, yet God chose it as he previously chose the salt (2: 20) to reform the bitter water. The sons of the prophets revealed their faith in the Lord and His prophet, by eating according to his command without hesitation. + The way Elisha reformed the nature of the cooked food by adding a little flour which gave it a new taste, so did our Lord by His divine ordinance, to motivate us to imitate Him, to walk in the way of righteousness and godliness, to rejoice in the great reward that He promised us, and for the sake of healing the illnesses, tribulations, and anguish that perpetually surround us since the beginning of time. Adam, the father of our race gathered those bitter fruits as a price of his sin, and presented them to us, in the moment he heard the words of his Creator, saying: “Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toll shall eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3: 17-19). (St. (Mar) Ephraim the Syrian) 5- ELISHA SATISFIES A HUNDRED MEN WITH TWENTY LOAVES OF BREAD: “Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, ‘Give it to the people, that they may eat’” (42) + St. John the Evangelist, concerning the miracle of satisfying the multitude, said that, it was with barley loaves (john 6: 9), not without a specific goal; to teach us to tread by our feet upon the pride of life. Barley was the food of the prophets . (St. John Chrysostom) The scholar Tertullian, in the second century AD, debated the view of Mercion in five books; specifically concerning the unity of the Holy Book (namely the two Testaments). Mercion used to hate the Old Testament, Saw the Creator as a violent Being, who knew no mercy nor compassion; And believed that the Lord Christ, the Wholly Merciful, came to contradict the Creator of material, namely the element of evil. Tertullian quoted this episode within our hands, when Elisha satisfied a hundred men with twenty loaves of bread, of which much remained afterwards, in his debate against Mercion; on account of that it bears a symbol of the work of the Lord Christ, the Creator. “Baal Shalisha”, was previously mentioned in 1 Samuel 9: 4; of unknown location, other than it was close to Gilgal. “Bread of the firstfruits”, probably brought that man, because it was a religious duty to offer to the Lord (Leviticus 23: 14). That indicates that there were those who still feared the Lord, who refrained from worshipping the Baal, among whom was that man who did not keep it for himself, but presented the firstfruits to the men of God, even in the time of famine (38). As to the work of the Lord, it was by blessing the twenty loaves of bread to satisfy a hundred men, and had some left over.. “The newly ripened grain”, is green heads of grain roasted on the fire, what is known nowadays as ‘Ferik’ (Leviticus 2: 14). + Here two miracles were performed by Elisha among his disciples: the first by removing death, hidden in the pot of cooked food; and the second when he satisfied a hundred men with twenty loaves of bread. In both miracles, he was a symbol of Him who blessed and fed five thousand men (except for women and children) with five loaves of bread and a few fish (Matthew 14: 13-21). “And his servant said, ‘What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?’ He said again, ‘Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and have some left over’” (43) “So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord” (44) When we offer what we have to others, the blessing of the Lord will dwell, we and the others will be satisfied, and will have some leftover. The Wise Solomon says: “There is one man who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty” (Proverbs 11: 24-25). Satisfaction is not in eating a plenty of food, nor in its diversity, but in the blessing of the Lord. It was not possible for Elisha to let the sons of the prophets go hungry; for God, who created man, was committed to satisfy all his needs, and to give him more than he asks, and beyond what he needs. And it is the work of the true minister of God, and of every Christians, to stretch his hand to satisfy all those around him. The figure 100 refers to the perfect congregation; hence when speaking about the lost sheep, the Lord said that the shepherd had a hundred sheep. What the prophet did was to call every minister to care to satisfy the whole human race; as according to St. John Chrysostom: [O priest, you are the father of all mankind]. ------------------------------ AN INSPIRATION FROM 2 KINGS 4 I SHALL OPEN MY MOUTH WIDE, AND YOU WILL SATISFY MY DEPTHS WITH THE OIL OF YOUR GRACE + When Elisha blessed the jar of oil, the house of the widow was filled with joy; He saved her two sons from bondage, and provided the family with all their needs + Come, O God of Elisha into my house; For my soul became a widow, and her sons were about to become slaves; The devil, like a violent creditor came to take my children into bondage; He came to take my mind, emotions, senses, talents, and all my possibilities; Come into my house, and pour the oil of Your grace in me; Who can fill all my empty vessels but You? Why should I beg from men: compassion, money, or a word of commendation? When You, my rich Father satisfies all my need? + A notable woman set an upper room for Your prophet, where he would find comfort; Grant me to deliver my depths to You, to set in them a holy temple for Yourself; Where You may dwell, and invite Your heavenly friends; Yes, Come and dwell in me; and turn my depths into a joyful kingdom. + You take away the barrenness of my soul; You grant me children of Yourself, whom I labor to Your account; In case my only begotten soul dies; or that of my brother perish; To whom shall I resort, except to You? You are the Life, and You are the resurrection; You are the Destroyer of death; You are the Grantor of conquest; Let my body attach to Your body; and let my soul get united to You; For whoever unite with You, from him death will flee away; And to him, the eternal life will run forth. + The multitude gathered together around You, seeking to hear Your words; You satisfied their souls with Your commandments; and their stomachs with Your food; No one comes to You and return empty; You satisfy him, and quench his thirst, to let him, in his turn, give to others; Glory be to You, O Bread of heaven; Glory be to You, who satisfies everyone.
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