I invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning, again, to the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 8. In the Pew Bibles, that's on either page 276 or 363, depending on your edition. We come this morning to a text that serves as a transition from the long list of miracles that we have recorded in this book from 2 Kings chapter 2 until this point where we've been told many of the works of Elisha. And this comes at the close of that and serves in a sort of way as a summary for that, indirectly because that summary comes out of the mouth of one of the characters in the story, Gehazi, whom we've met before. In fact, in chapter 8, we meet three characters we've met before, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the Shunammite woman, and the son which Elisha resurrected. If we remember that story, that was in chapter 4 of this book. We remember that was quite a detailed story that made a very clear distinction for us between the ordinary providence of God, for example, the death of the boy, and the extraordinary miracles performed by God through Elisha, in particular the resurrection of that boy from the dead. It was very clear, ordinary providence and extraordinary miracle. But in our story this morning, that line between those two is blurred somewhat. The events found here represent either an extraordinary providence, or a rather ordinary looking miracle. I didn't know quite how to divide it. It's an incredible story. It's very brief, but in this story we have an announcement, a reaffirmation, a confirmation of the faithfulness of God in the redemption of his people. And so as we look at this section of scripture, chapter 8, verses 1 through 6, we're going to consider a story of a blessed inheritance. And I'm going to give you three points. You need to change your outline on your bulletin if you take notes. Not big changes, but they're changes. It's a story of blessed inheritance seemingly lost during exile. Seemingly lost during exile. Rightfully claimed through faith and justly restored in the end. Justly restored in the end. Hear now God's word from 2 Kings chapter 8, beginning in verse 1. Now, Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years. The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of the seven years, she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her house and the land. The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and he said, Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done. And just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, This is the woman, my lord, the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life. The king asked the woman about it and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now. Here ends the reading of God's Word. And the first thing we want to consider from it is a blessed inheritance was seemingly lost during an exile. The story begins by telling us what happened seven years ago, seven years prior, When Elisha came to the woman whose son he had restored to life, he came to this woman, so our mind is to go back to chapter 4 and remember who we're talking about here. We're talking about a woman who was an Israelite and owned a piece of the promised land in the town of Shunem. She said of herself there in chapter 4, verse 13, I have a home among my own people. And in verse 18, we found her husband with the reapers in a field. She had a blessed inheritance and lacked nothing, so that she needed no help from the king or his army. But she did have one thing that she lacked, and that was a son, an heir to inherit that blessed inheritance. And that was something only the Lord could provide, and he did provide through the word of God, through Elisha. That child was born, much joy in that house, and then in a trial of faith, the Lord took that boy. And she cried out to the Lord, and Elisha was sent, and Elisha raised him from the dead. And that's how we left them in chapter 4, mother and son, hand in hand, and their blessed inheritance in the land. And that's how we find them in chapter 8, mother and son, together in their blessed inheritance, enjoying the goodness of God in the land. And that's when the Lord tested this woman's faith once again. When he sent Elisha to reveal the judgment that he was going to bring on Israel, a famine, and to announce to her the way of escape for her and her family. We read that Elisha told her in verse 1, Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, Because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years. That just sounds so matter of fact. And we just can't miss how severe a trial this was. Into her life that was good and was pleasant and was full came the word of the Lord, the will of God for her, that she was to get up and go. And to go anywhere but home. She and her family were to leave behind all that they held dear. They were to sojourn. They were to travel as aliens and strangers outside the promised land. Apart from the presence of God with his people. And without the comforts of home. This was no vacation. This wasn't a trip to visit the relatives. This was an exile. Although she would never choose this for herself or for her family, She knew it must be the best. It was clearly God's will for her and her family. It was given directly to her by the man of God. Now, we do not know whether she felt anxious about the future, although we would certainly understand it if she did. But we do know that she had a hope for the future. She was given hope for the future. Based on the word of God through Elisha, she was told that this sojourn, this exile would last for time. For seven years, the famine would be over and then she could come home. And without any hesitation, she obeyed the will of God. We read in verse 2 that the woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. A land of unbelief, a land of paganism, false gods, the land from which the queen Jezebel had come and brought with her the corruption. for which Israel was being judged. We look at this story and we should look at it with ourselves in mind. All of us gathered here today who have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, who have known our sin and misery, who have turned to Him for salvation, and desire to please Him with a godly life, we know that we're saved by grace through faith in Christ. We have true faith in common with the saints of old. In fact, in common with the Shunammite woman. That faith we read about in Hebrews chapter 11, the litany of faith, the parade of faith, some call it. But we look there in verse 13 and we read that all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things that were promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers in the world. And they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. And the author continues in verse 39 that these were all commended for their faith, and rightly so. Yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us, the writer says. So that together with us, they too would be made perfect. That's something better. that something better than her blessed assurance in the land, that something better that they were looking forward to is that which we have right now in Christ Jesus our Lord, a heavenly inheritance that is secure. We read in 1 Peter chapter 1 that God has given us who believe new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and unto an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you. this is the truth of the matter is that we already have a blessed inheritance just as truly as a Shunammite woman had a blessed inheritance in the land we have one we have a home in heaven and we are heirs we will inherit according to promise and in this Peter says you greatly rejoice and rightly so but then he goes on to say though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials like the Shunammite woman it's God's will that we live as aliens and strangers apart from our inheritance for time in this present evil age in which goodness and life are marred by sin and death where joy and comfort are dampened by sorrow and pain, where righteousness and gain are polluted by wickedness and loss. With bodies that are imperfect and frail, we suffer all manner of breakdown. We prayed for many this morning and there are so many that are left unsaid. And in our spirits, we face never-ending opposition from the sin that still clings to us and trips us. The world that distracts us from continuing to look forward to these heavenly things. And from the devil who seeks to destroy us. It is a wearisome sojourn. It's a wearisome exile. But the time of our exile, during which all can seem lost, the time is fixed by the decree of God. Whether he brings us home to glory one by one or he comes in glory in the clouds of heaven to bring us all home at once, the time of our exile will end. And therefore, like the Shunammite woman, we are, as Peter says, to prepare our minds for action, to be self-controlled and to set our hope fully on that grace to be revealed on that day when Christ comes again. And that's how we're to live in this exile. We're to look forward to that day when our faith will be sight. And in the meantime, in the meantime, we're to be active. And we're to be self-controlled. Just as the Shunammite woman was. If we look back to the story, we find that a blessed inheritance that seemed to be lost to her because of her exile was rightfully claimed by faith. We know nothing of those seven years of her sojourn other than they came to an end. And we read in verse 3, at the end of the seven years, she came back to the land of the Philistines. What's interesting here is what it didn't say. It didn't say she went back to her home and her land. It says that she went back from the land of the Philistines and she went to the king to beg for her house and her land. someone had taken her inheritance. We have a name for that. It's called squatters. Someone was living in her house. Someone was laboring in her lands. And so, there she was and her inheritance was still out of reach. We know this shouldn't surprise us. It's been going on for centuries. Ever since the fall of man, when people have been forced from their homes by famine or war or other disasters, there's others that are glad to take up what they leave behind. In fact, if you've been following the news in Iraq, you can't hardly miss it. The last two weeks, the Iraqi government's been trying to move squatters out of homes in Baghdad for the very same reason. People left the country because of the war and, you know, people filled in the gaps. Children, you know the expression, finders, keepers, losers, weepers. That's what squatters do. And that's what had happened to this woman. Someone had taken her inheritance. and as difficult as those seven years in exile had been for her, there was nothing compared to that crushing moment when she stood at the threshold of her land. She saw her inheritance and she could not enter in. A picture of hell on earth, I would say to you, for that is what people will see in hell. They will see the inheritance that God has given his people and they will not be able to enter in. And so we would excuse her if she despaired. If she felt that all was lost. If questions bubbled up in her mind, such as had her hope been false? Had God forsaken her? Had she lost her inheritance? Well, if she did despair, she didn't stay there. She did not wallow in the dread of her trying circumstances, And she didn't put on a happy face to pretend that they weren't so. Instead, she lifted her eyes from the circumstances. She lifted her eyes from her dread and she looked to the promises of God. And in faith, in those promises, she took action. You see, it was the Lord who has promised his inheritance to her through her ancestors years before. We're told in Numbers chapter 34, which corresponds with the book of Joshua, that when the conquest of the land was complete, Joshua gave the land as an inheritance to Israel according to lots. They entered the land, the land was apportioned, lots were drawn, and the land was distributed as an inheritance. We read in Joshua chapter 19, beginning in verse 17, that the fourth lot came out for Issachar, clan by clan. The territory included 16 towns, one of which was Shunem. And these towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, clan by clan. And not only was this inheritance given or granted after the conquest of the land, it was maintained throughout the history of Israel. In his law, specifically Leviticus 25, God commanded that this inheritance was to be perpetual. It was to be handed down from generation to generation. as close to eternity in this lifetime as we can find. It was not to end. Now, the land could be bought and sold, but only in the sense of how we use the term lease, that it could be bought for use, but never taken away. And in the year of Jubilee, every 50 years, all leases were expired and all property returned to those who had inherited it. And the house and the fields of the Shunammite woman were her inheritance, from the Lord, and they could not be lawfully taken from her. And standing on this promise, she wasted no time, but she went to the king to beg for her house and land. She wasn't begging like we think of beggars that have nothing, asking for crumbs. She was begging, she was crying out for justice, that the promise of God would be honored, and that her land would be restored. The language is hidden in the English. She would cry out literally. That's the same word we heard when we considered the woman who had eaten her own child. That she cried out to the king for justice. This woman cried out. And like that other woman, she was desperate for justice. But unlike that woman, she had the promise of God on her side. She had a reason for her claim. And we think of ourselves in exile. And we face crushing circumstances as well. Afflictions of our body and soul, to be sure. But there's nothing more crushing than those circumstances that cause us to waver in the assurance of our salvation. In the assurance of inheriting that which has been given to us in Christ. The world argues hard against us. It tells us that our faith is foolish. That it's a crutch. Our flesh is so persistent in habits of heart and of action and of words that we're tempted to give up fighting. The accuser works overtime to have us believe that God will not forgive our particular sins. They're just beyond the pale. And we too may give in to despair and we may doubt the faithfulness of God to give us the inheritance that He has promised us. Is my hope false? Has God forsaken me? Have I lost my inheritance? And I know that those are questions that you have. Especially in the deepest and darkest moments of life in exile. Is it really true? But we're instructed by the example of the Shunammite. If we give way to despair, we don't need to stay in despair. We need not wallow in our dread and we need not pretend like it's really not difficult. Instead, like her, we must lift our eyes from our circumstances. We must lift our eyes from our own inner turmoil and we must turn them to the promises of God. Promises of the certainty of our inheritance, the wonder of it, and the fact that our Lord preserves us for it. I've mentioned 1 Peter already this morning. 1 Peter chapter 1. We have it already. It's guarded for us in heaven and God is guarding us for it. We cannot lose it. Ephesians chapter 1. Where we're told that we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms already in Christ Jesus. We are there in Him. It is ours and it can't be lost. Romans chapter 8. It reminds us that the struggles of this world are going to fade and the glory to be revealed is going to be wondrous and that it is ours, it is certain, it can't be lost. That's where we need to go when the circumstances of our exile make it seem like all is lost. And so we turn back to our story and we see how a blessed inheritance that seemed to be lost and which she rightfully claimed through faith was justly restored in the end. Just because the woman had the lawful right to claim her inheritance in the court of the king did not mean that she would prevail. This was a wicked household. This was a wicked king. She would face stiff opposition not only from those who were squatting on her land but perhaps from just the king not wanting to give her the time of day. In fact, it's possible that she would go into court and actually opposed the king himself. That it might well have been the king who had taken her land. It's not said in our text explicitly, but I think there are circumstances that point us in that direction. I don't have time to cover them in detail, but I just want to mention them in passing, that first of all, the fact that she took her appeal to the court of the king instead of to the elders at the city gate of Shunem, where the property dispute was, is a little suspicious in and of itself. Secondly, this is King Jehoram, the son of Ahab and Jezebel, the son of parents who had stolen the inheritance of Naboth, his vineyard. You remember that story well. He'd seen it done. And thirdly, and for me, this is the icing on the cake, because it's actually the words of his judgment that we'll consider in a moment, that they seem to be self-implicating. They seem to speak in the first person as if he were the one who had done the wrong. And so although this woman was in the right, she was standing on the promises of God, she lacked the power and the authority and the wealth to take back her inheritance by herself. She needed an advocate, which normally would be her husband. But he's conspicuously absent in this story. She had no advocate by her side. If she was not a widow, she was certainly as defenseless as a widow. And yet she went. With faith alone in the God of promise to cry out for justice, would justice be served? Indeed it would be, but not because of anything she would do. Because while all this was happening, the Lord was already at work through an extraordinary providence to provide her with an advocate. In verse 4 we read that the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. For his own reasons, and we don't know what they were, the king had called Gehazi to the court. So that he might question him as an eyewitness to those things that Elisha had done, that he had heard of, but had not seen. And so we must not construe this as a casual conversation over a cup of coffee. It was rather more like an inquiry, perhaps a grand jury testimony, pressing him for information. And he said, that's the king said in verse 4, Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done. Give me an account. Tell me what you've seen. And it was during this inquiry that we don't know how long it lasted that the most amazing thing happened, according to verse 5. And here I prefer the English Standard Version translation where we read in verse 5, And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, we're supposed to pay attention, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. In a sense, just as Gehazi answered into one ear of the king about how Elisha had raised this boy to life, The cry of this very woman reached his other ear, crying out for justice, for her property. In the extraordinary providence of God, Gehazi and the woman were in the same place at the same time, and both speaking to the king at the same time. Now, verse 5 continues what Gehazi said, and it's very emphatic in the Hebrew. It says, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha raised from the dead. Imagine the courtroom scene, they have that kind of outburst. Well, the king dropped Gehazi like a dishrag. He's gone from the story, and he turns his attention to the woman. And he questions her. In verse 6 we read, the king asked the woman about it, meaning what Gehazi had said, and she told him. This conversation was also not likely casual. The king wanted answers about the resurrection, and we can be sure that he got them. But he got more than he bargained for. If you remember in chapter 4, when Elisha went to the woman and she had been hospitable to him, he offered to speak to the king on her behalf. Was there anything he could do for her? Could he speak to the king on her behalf? And she told him no, because she had a home among her people. And now we find in chapter 8 that she's been separated from her home and from her people. And she needed an advocate. She needed someone to speak to the king on her behalf. And Elisha was not there. However, through the testimony of two eyewitnesses, Gehazi, and the woman in the court of the king that established the facts. The king was confronted with the marvelous and wondrous work of Elisha, whose name means Yahweh saves. That's the witness that was born to him that day, right at the moment when this woman came to ask for justice. And so, in a sense, Elisha, though not present, by the testimony of his work and his ministry, spoke for him to the king. And because of what the king heard, it became very clear to him that this woman had the ear of the Lord. She had cried out to the Lord for the life of her son, and the Lord had provided his resurrection through Elisha. And now she was in his court, crying out to him to restore her house and her land, while the name of Elisha was still ringing in his ears. Perhaps the warning of Exodus chapter 22, verse 22, came to mind as well for the king. The word of Yahweh, the word of the Lord, says, Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do, and I believe he had. If you do and they cry out to me, which she had done, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused and I will kill you with the sword. Your wives will become widows and your children will become orphans. The king dare not deny her. And so without delay, he assigned an official to her case and said to him, Give back everything. Not get back everything. Not arrange everything. Give back everything that belonged to her. Including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now. See, through the extraordinary means in the court that day, the Lord made the king of Israel an offer he couldn't refuse. The testimony of two witnesses, he brought his man before the king, Elisha, who means Yahweh saves, and he saw that this woman was protected by the hand of God, and he gave her her inheritance. Brothers and sisters, we are co-heirs in Christ. In Christ, we already have a blessed and eternal inheritance. Even though we live as aliens and strangers in this present evil age, that we must wait for it to come in its fullness. We know together that this exile is difficult and we get pressed down by the trials that it brings so that our inheritance may feel lost from time to time. But we always have ready access to the promises of God in his word. That we might rightfully claim them and cry out in faith to the court of our heavenly King. Not only do we have the right, he's given us the promises. Not only do we have the right, we have the advocate. We have the advocate that will prevail. In our own strength we can't stand. Our sin will condemn us. The world will overcome us and the devil will destroy us. But in Jesus Christ we have the advocate we need. who is already interceding on our behalf at the right hand of the God who is for us. As Paul says in Ephesians 3, verse 12, In Him, that is, in Christ, and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. We may enter the court. And therefore, with encouragement from Hebrews 4, verse 16, let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Take heart, people of God. Take heart with Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, beginning in verse 16. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. A blessed inheritance that although it may seemingly lost during exile, it can be rightfully claimed through faith and it will be justly restored in the end by the God who has given it to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Let us pray. Our God and Father, we come before you this morning as your people. That through faith we know ourselves to belong to you in Christ Jesus. We know and we believe that we have an inheritance in heaven. That Jesus Christ even now is completing a place for us, preparing a place for us, that he will come back and bring us home to you. We know this is true, Father, but our assurance gets trammeled, it gets challenged, that gets pushed down by the circumstances of this life. For sin still clings to us, the world still opposes us, and Satan is still out to get us. And in our frailty and in our humanity, Father, we lose sight of the heavenly things. We lose sight of the eternal things. We lose sight of the glory to be revealed when Christ is revealed, when he comes for us. And we pray, Father, that we would be reminded this morning from the story of the Shunammite woman. of our blessed inheritance that though it seems lost in the trials of this life, we might justly take hold of your promises and sue in the court of heaven for them, knowing that we have an advocate who is at your right hand to secure it for us eternally, Christ Jesus, the righteous one. Help us, Father, who have bolstered assurance this day as we wait for the day when our faith will be sight. We ask this all in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.