Bible History Old Testament Vol 6 by Alfred Edersheim

Author:Alfred Edersheim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion & Spirituality
Published: 2012-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

“Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up” (1 Samuel 2:6);

“Know that Jehovah hath set apart him that is godly for Himself: Jehovah will hear when I call unto Him” (Psalm 4:3);

or this:

“All the paths of Jehovah are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:10).

The last glimpse we have of the Shunammite in this narrative is when called by Elisha to receive back her living son, she bends in lowly reverence, and then silently retires (2 Kings 4:36, 37). When next we meet her, it is in circumstances of trial almost as great as that through which she had formerly passed. Once more she proves true, trustful, and brave; and once more is her faith crowned by mercy and deliverance.

Secondly, we think of the symbolical and typical teaching of this history. fj21 The Rabbis discuss the question, whether the dead child of the Shunammite could have Levitically defiled those who touched him. This Pharisaic scruple deserves record for the significant answer it elicits: “The dead defileth, but the living does not defile.” To us all this includes a meaning deeper than they could attach to it. The story speaks to us of Him through Whom “death is swallowed up in victory.” As we think of Him Who, as God Incarnate, and as the Sent of the Father, is to us the Representative and the Prophet of God in a unique sense, we recall that it was not, as by Elijah or Elisha, through prayer and personal contact, but by the Word of His power that He raised the dead (Mark 5:39-42; Luke 7:13-15; John 11:43, 44). And beyond this we remember that “the hour.... now is, when the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live”; and that “whosoever liveth and believeth” in Christ “shall never die” (John 5:25; 11:26).

Lastly, as regards the supernatural in this history, we fully admit that, as previously indicated, the history of Elijah and Elisha marks, so to speak, the high-point in the miraculous attestation of the mission of the prophets. But, by the side of it, there are so many elements of purely human interest, so many indications of human weakness, and so many details which would not have found a place in a legendary account (such as the fruitless mission of Gehazi), while, on the other hand, there is such unadorned simplicity about the whole narrative, and so much spiritual and typical teaching in it as to carry home almost instinctive conviction of the truth and reality of what is recorded.

Yet another, we might almost call it twofold, narrative taken from the history of Elisha’s more private ministry claims our attention (2 Kings 4:38-44). It is instructive, as confirming the view that this whole section about Elisha’s ministry is taken from a special work on the subject, that the scene is now laid at a considerable interval from the previous history, and at a time of famine (v.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.