05.12.2015 Old Testament: 2Ki 4.27–29

To read the Bible in a year, read Second Kings 4–5 on May 12, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

Usually the Lord filled Elisha in on things that were happening or about to happen, but in the case of the wealthy woman who provided a place for him to stay, the Lord did not reveal that the woman’s son had died,

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.” So she said, “Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?” 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” (2 Kings 4.27–29). 

Elisha knew that something was wrong by the way the woman acted, but he did not know the problem. When she said a few words, although she did not say it explicitly, the prophet knew that the boy—for whom Elisha had prayed that the woman and her husband could have a child—had died.

Without wasting time, he ordered Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, to get to the woman’s house quickly without being distracted by anyone on the way. When Gehazi got there, he did as told, but nothing happened.

When you know that something is wrong, work quickly to fix the problem.