SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 13

ELIJAH’S HEIR

THE MIRACLES OF ELISHA

From 2 Kings 4:18-44

Time passed and the son born miraculously to the Shunammite woman grew older. One day he went out to the field to see his father, who was working among the reapers. Suddenly he said to his father, [My head! My head hurts!] [Carry him home to his mother,] the father told a servant. When the child reached home, he sat on his mother’s lap until noon and then he died. The woman laid his body on the bed in Elisha’s room and closed the door as she went out. Without telling her husband what had happened, she said to him, [Send me a servant and a donkey quickly so that I may go to see the man of YHVH.] [Why go today?] he asked. [It is not the new moon or a Shabbat.] [I know that, but still I must go,] she urged. As soon as the servant and donkey arrived, the woman told the servant, [Saddle the donkey and drive it as fast as you can. Don’t slow down for my sake unless I tell you to.] At that time Elisha was staying at Mount Carmel. When he saw the woman coming, he said to his servant Gehazi, [Look! Here comes the woman from Shuneni. Run and ask her if she and her husband and her child are all right.] When Gehazi spoke to the woman, she almost ignored him. [Everything is fine,] she answered shortly. Then she hurried to Elisha, fell to the ground before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi reached to pull the woman away, but Elisha stopped him. [Don’t do that!] he said. [Something is bothering her and Adonai hasn’t told me what it is.] [You told me I would have a son,] the woman said, [and I begged you not to deceive me.] Then Elisha realized what had happened. [Tie up your cloak so you can run,] Elisha told Gehazi. [Take my staff and go straight to this woman’s house. Do not stop to greet anyone or answer a greeting from anyone on the way. When you get to the boy, lay my staff upon his face.] [As surely as you and Adonai are alive, I will not go home without you,] the woman said. Elisha went back with her. Gehazi went ahead and did as Elisha had told him, but nothing happened. He ran back to meet Elisha. [The boy is still dead,] he reported. Elisha hurried on to the house and saw the boy lying dead on his bed. He closed the door of his room and remained alone with the boy, praying to Adonai. He stretched himself upon the boy’s body, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes and hands stretched to hands. Before long, warmth and life began to return to the child. When nothing further happened, Elisha went downstairs and walked to and fro for a while. Then he returned to the boy and again stretched himself on him. At last, the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. He was alive again! Elisha called for Gehazi. [Tell the Shunammite woman to come here,] he said. When the woman arrived, he presented her son alive. [Take your son into your arms,] he said. The woman immediately fell to the ground at his feet. Then she took her son into her arms and went out. From Shunem, Elisha went to Gilgal, where he found a famine in the land. One day when he was teaching the young prophets who were sitting before him, he told his servant Gehazi, [put a big pot on to boil and make some pottage for these young prophets.] One of the young prophets went into the fields to gather wild herbs. He found a vine filled with wild gourds, gathered quite a number of them and put them into the pottage, not realizing that they were poisonous. As soon as the pottage was set before the young prophets and one of them tasted it, he cried out, [This pottage is poisonous, O man of YHVH!] Immediately they all stopped eating it. [Bring me some meal,] Elisha ordered. He threw the meal into the pottage and at once it was good to eat. [It is safe now,] he said. [Pour it out for everyone to eat.] The pottage was safe and the men ate it without harm. On one occasion a man came from Baal-shalisha, bringing Elisha twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh grain in a sack, all of this from the first part of the harvest. [Give this food to the young prophets to eat,] Elisha told Gehazi. [How can I feed one hundred men with such a little?] Gehazi protested. [Do it!] Elisha ordered. [Adonai says there will be food left over after they have all eaten.] Gehazi did as Elisha ordered. After they had all eaten, there was food left over, just as Adonai had said.

COMMENTARY

A GARDEN OF HERBS

For thousands of years, herbs have been used as medicines, food seasonings and perfume fragrances. In ancient Palestine, the Israelites found many herbs growing wild throughout the country. Certain herbs grew freely in fields; some grew only near cool brooks, while others flourished in dry and sandy desert soil. The herbs included here are among those the Israelites used most often.

CHICORY
Chicory is among the plants known in the Bible as [bitter herbs.] Included were wild lettuce, dandelion, endive, sorrel and watercress. The Israelites collected the young, tender leaves of these plants and used them as salad greens. Sometimes chicory was cooked as a green vegetable and today the plant’s dried and ground roots are used as a coffee substitute. All these herbs tasted extremely harsh, the leaves of the chicory among the most bitter. The Israelites probably learned to eat them from the Egyptians, who mixed the herbs with spicy mustard. Throughout the meal they dipped pieces of bread into the sauce mixture.

WATERCRESS
The smooth, bright leaves of the watercress were among the greens that Israelites ate as salad or as meat garnish. As its name implies, watercress grows best in the running water of a stream and was often found near the cool springs of ancient Palestine. Like other herbs, its leaves have a strong odour, but they are not as bitter-tasting as chicory or wild lettuce. Watercress belongs to the mustard family, which also includes such vegetables as broccoli and cabbage.

CORIANDER
Ancient peoples had many uses for the flowering herb known as coriander. The aromatic leaves were cooked as seasonings in soups and stews. To make a popular drink, the entire plant was left soaking for hours in a vat of wine. The sweet, gray coriander seeds were used as cooking spices or sprinkled on special cakes and sweetened breads. Oil from the seeds was also used to flavour foods, but more commonly used as a medicine for mild stomach disorders. Today coriander is still a popular flavouring for everything from curry to pudding.

WORMWOOD
Like other herbs, wormwood can be recognized by the strong pleasant scent of its leaves. It is closely related to the sagebrush of the western United States, and flourished in the sandy desert regions of Palestine. The thin leaves of the bush are terribly bitter; so much so that sheep refuse to eat them even when the ground is barren of other plants. Since ancient times, the plant has been a symbol of bitter misfortune and sorrow. But none of this kept it from becoming a popular herb. Ancient peoples used it in scenting perfumes and as a medicine. In modern times it is a seasoning, and oil from wormwood leaves is still prescribed for intestinal worms. The pungent leaves are also used to protect clothes from moths. But wormwood was, and still is, most valued for its oil; the essential ingredient in a drink called [absinthe.]

BALM OF GILEAD
Balm is the fragrant resin or gum that oozes from cuts made in the evergreen stem or branches. In ancient times the balm of a certain rare evergreen tree was made into a costly ointment thought to have great healing powers. The tree grew in mountainous regions of Arabia, but was not native to Palestine. Certain ancient historians have recorded that the queen of Sheba brought seeds for the balm tree when she visited Solomon. The reason for its name is uncertain. Perhaps Solomon planted the evergreen in Gilead, a region of Palestine east of the Jordan River.

CASTOR BEAN
The castor bean is an herbaceous plant; that is, it has characteristics similar to those of herbs. Like some herbs, the beans or seeds of the plant produce valuable oil. Ancient Israelites used this clear, sticky oil in many religious ceremonies. The Israelites never used castor oil as a medicine. In modern times it is a common laxative, and is used in the preparation of certain foods. Industry uses the oil in textile dyes and as a lubricant for jet engines. The ancient Israelites also appreciated the castor bean plant for providing shade in the summer. It has huge purple leaves, which turn green as the plant grows older. In the Mediterranean area it often grows several inches in a single day, easily reaching a height of twelve feet in one summer.