2 Kings chapter 4 and verse 8. And we're still in the history of Elisha, and the word of God says, And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care.

What is to be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily, she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. and the woman conceived and bear a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word.

It appears from our readings that Elisha traveled often between Mount Carmel and Samaria, the capital of the nation of Israel. It could be that the purpose, the reason of his journeyings was to visit Bethel and Jericho and Samaria and perhaps other places where schools of the prophets were located. And perhaps there he would teach those who gathered. Or maybe like the old judges, he travelled to different parts of the country to preach and to teach and uphold the ministry of the Lord. Whatever the reason was for his journeys, he often passed through this little city of Shunem, which lay in the tribe of Issachar.

Today it's called the Jezreel Valley and today, as it was in Elisha's day, it is a very fertile and productive region for fruit and grain. Interestingly, it has also been called the battlefield of Palestine because the things that made it good for farming also made it good for fighting. Strange as that might appear, it's flat, it's wide, it's well watered for an army to make its way, its journey through, and it's accessible. It was the route into the heart of Israel. And many armies passed through this valley and battles were fought here. If you were planning to face an invader, this was the place to do it.

Now in this little town of Shunam lived a farmer and his wife. And little is said of the husband, except that he appears to be quite old. though we will discover in the coming weeks, not so old as to be unable to work in the fields during harvest time, even in the heat of the day. But it's the lady that's the main character of this couple that we are introduced to here in these verses today. And she is described as a great woman.

Did her greatness lie in her wealth? Possibly. Was it her kindness? Was it her hospitality that she was reputed for? Maybe. Perhaps it was both. But these were the qualities that were certainly evident to Elisha. She had a good reputation and she was well respected in her community.

Elisha had shown kindness, you will remember, to the widow and her two sons who were in debt. On a previous occasion, this other lady had come to Elisha and spoken of the fact that her husband was dead and that she was in debt to creditors and that they were going to take her two children. Elisha had been kind to her and helped her in her dire straits, in her troubled circumstances. Now, this other woman who lives in Shunem, she shows kindness to Elisha.

And I think that there's a pattern here. Kindness ought to be a principle in our lives. There is nothing Christ-like in being unkind. Kindness is typical of God. And the Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians to be kind to one another. Kindness sees a need and works to help. And it gives without any expectation of repayment. And yet, as we see here with Elisha, kindness often finds a way of returning home. compassion and pity and empathy towards those in need, towards those in distress, is a fruit of the Spirit of God in a believer. It's an attitude of heart. And when one is kind, kindness has a way of paying back, sometime, somewhere.

And this we see in the case of Elisha. We don't know this woman's name. She's become known simply as the Shunammite. That's what Elisha calls her. But she, noticing Elisha passing, invited him to dine in her home. And it seems this lady had not been overtaken by the idolatry. that was widespread in Israel at this time.

And she was pleased to discover that Elisha was a man of God. And in her desire to honor him and his God, she prevails on her husband to provide something more permanent for Elisha's comfort. and accommodation, something that would be at his disposal as he passed to and fro.

And she suggested a little room separate from the busy house, a room that was built against a wall, perhaps in a garden area, where he could rest and study. They could provide a bed, a table, a chair, a means of lighting that would serve his purpose should he wish to read or write while he was with them during his journey. And Elisha was grateful and he made use of this kindness and he stayed in this little house fixed to the wall whenever he was passing through the area. It was very suitable for him and after some time benefiting from the Shunammite's kindness, the prophet began to wonder what he might do for her to show his gratitude.

And on one occasion when Elisha was present in this house with his servant Gehazi, or his helper, perhaps in a similar way to Elisha being the helper of Elijah. That had been the previous case. Indeed, it may well be that Gehazi was being tutored by Elisha in order to have a greater role in the country. Be that as it may, we will find a little bit more out about Gehazi in the coming weeks. But here on this occasion, Elisha and Gehazi, his servant, were together in the house.

And he sought for an opportunity to do this woman good. So he called for the Shunammite and he inquired if there was anything that she desired. She did not lack anything financially. Perhaps then Elisha could introduce her name at court. It seems that Elisha had now some status there following the victory of the three kings over the Moabites. Or perhaps he could seek some honour for her or service for her husband from the leader of the army.

But no, there was nothing that she required. And instead she gave this humble, but I think rather beautiful answer. She said, I dwell among mine own people. She was content with her home. She was content with her life and her friends and her neighbours. She had no need of preferment. She had no desire to be promoted in society. Here was a woman who had great peace in life and she had learned to be content.

So Elisha was at a loss. He could not think what might be done for her. Until his servant Gehazi pointed out something quite obvious. The woman had no family. She had no children. Nor was it likely she ever would because her husband was old. And very wisely Gehazi realised that having a child would be very precious to her.

And the Holy Spirit used this suggestion to prompt Elisha with a prophetic revelation. Elisha received knowledge from the Lord that the Lord would supply a child for her in one year's time or in nine months time. And Elisha called for the woman and told her the news. Within a year she would have a son whom she would cradle in her arms.

Now at first the woman was sceptical. She was unconvinced. And she wondered if Elisha was making fun of her or testing her or teasing her. And that would have been strange conduct indeed from God's prophet. Nevertheless, she presses her point, saying, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. But Elisha, God's servant, had spoken. And just as he said, the woman conceived and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life. Nine months after Elisha's promise was given, she had the son that was promised. The Lord gave her the child she never had and that she had given up hope of obtaining. And I think there's a couple of interesting lessons that we can take from this little account. Here's the first one.

The Lord looks after his own people. The Lord looks after his own people. Elisha was the Lord's prophet. He served the Lord. Now, I'm going to go back quite a long way, but I wonder if you can remember that Elisha had been called from the plough. He was a ploughman. He may have been a farmer, but he was certainly a ploughman. And he was called from the plough to this work of serving the Lord.

When Elijah called him, Elisha slew his oxen, burned his plough, and made a feast for his friends and family. He said goodbye to his old career, and he put himself upon the Lord's payroll. And the Lord provided for his servant, and the Lord provides for his people's needs. Elisha had many long journeys to make.

Often he would be tired and hungry and in need of shelter. And I don't know how often the Lord provided help such as in this case, but I do know that this woman's kindness was laid upon her heart by the Lord for the sake of the provision of his faithful servant. Perhaps the Shunammite had an inkling that this was a man of God before she offered him hospitality.

Maybe not. But in God's overarching providence, it worked for the good of both of these believers. And we can apply that to ourselves. The Lord has promised to do his people good. Sometimes we find it hard to discover what is good about our particular situation. But let us remember that the Lord first imposes the need that he then plans to satisfy. All of these things, even our troubles, as well as the solutions to our troubles, are in the hands of the Lord. Sometimes the Lord creates hardship that he then plans to ease.

And we might think to ourselves, well, that's strange. Why would he do that? Well, he might do it to test our faith. He might do it to try our patience. He might do it to provoke our dependence upon him and draw forth our prayers for help. He might do it to secure our gratitude and praise. And it's sad to say, but we all at times ignore the Lord when He makes life easy for us.

But here is a lesson for all the Lord's people. Trust in Him. Trust in Christ whatever the problem. Because out of every trial, the Lord brings good and nurtures spiritual growth for His people. Wouldn't it be great if instead of complaining, we could say, I wonder what the Lord is going to teach me from this situation today.

Here's another little lesson. I want, just briefly, to return to the woman's statement that she needed nothing from the prophet. She said, I dwell among mine own people. I don't need, she says, I don't need that you speak to the king for me or the captain of the host. I'm content. I dwell among my own people.

And we're going to find out some interesting things about this woman in the coming weeks. She was not always content. And we shall discover that Elisha's offers were strangely prophetic. But these are lessons for another day. For the moment, let us hear this lesson.

Whatever you do in life, wherever you go, find yourself a gospel church if you can, and look for true Christian fellowship wherever you can. Order your life to stay close to the Lord. Don't become isolated. Don't become bereft of Christian company. Dwell among your own people.

You know, it might seem tempting to have your name mentioned in high places in this world, or to be offered opportunities that take you away to strange places. But take care. The wolf pack always tries to pick off the isolated sheep. And Satan is always watching for isolated believers. If you can't find a gospel ministry to attend and to support, then keep coming here for as long as we're able to do this. But always try to take positive steps to dwell among your own people.

And then thirdly and lastly, I've mentioned before how believing men and women in Israel viewed the birth of a child to be precious, not only for the gift of a new life, but also because they had a belief in the coming Messiah. Now you'll remember that all the Old Testament prophets spoke about this coming Messiah. God had promised a child would be born. God had promised a seed and a savior from the lineage of Abraham. And every believing Israelite was hopeful that that child would spring from his family.

Gehazi, Elisha's servant, concluded that a son would be considered a great blessing to this woman. And I'm pretty sure that the lively response of the Shunammite to Elisha's promise that he not toy with her feelings proved Gehazi to be right. It showed how precious a blessing such a son would be to her. And this reminds us that long before the Lord Jesus ever came into the world, men and women who worshipped God were looking forward and anticipating the coming of the Messiah from God. They had faith in the promises of God.

And for hundreds of years, just and devout people were waiting for the consolation of Israel, were waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And today, if we have faith in the Lord Jesus, it is because we look back 2,000 years and believe by God's grace that the Savior accomplished wonderful things for us on the cross when he took our sins and died in our place. In past times before the coming of the Lord Jesus, 2,000 years ago, even before that, Believers looked forward to Christ's coming because they believed that he was the one who would bring God's blessing and dispense God's goodness to them. They understood from the prophets, from their ministry, and from all the types and symbols granted to Israel, for example, the type of Isaac's sacrifice, the importance of the blood offerings on the altars, that a full and perfect sacrifice for sin was needed, and that the Lord Jesus Christ would provide that. Their hope lay, just like our hope, in the work that Christ the Messiah would perform. They had faith as we have faith in the finished work of Christ. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us today. Amen.