Please turn in your Bibles this morning again to the Old Testament book of Kings, 2 Kings chapter 4. We take up our series on Through the Life of the Prophet Elisha, 2 Kings chapter 4, beginning at verse 8, which you will find on page 358 in most of the few Bibles. Our text this morning is the tale of the Shunammite woman, which tugs more strongly at our emotions and pierces more deeply to our hearts than any other episode in Elisha's story, in his ministry. And as the account of the Shunammite woman unfolds, we will find ourselves sympathizing at least with her at some level, and some of us perhaps empathizing deeply and identifying with her deeply in her experience. For some among us have shared the depths of her desolation. Some among us harbor the hope for a child that in a way that she no longer dared to hope. And some have suffered the devastation of the loss of a child. An unimaginable anguish that to you is also real. But others have sensed the heights of her joy. You're thankful for each child you have, but in a particular way for those that came after you'd given up hope that they would ever come. And you know what it is to have a loved one spared from what seemed a certain death. But as you are drawn into the story of the Shunammite woman this morning, the Word of God calls you and it calls me as it calls everyone who's read this story. To look away from yourself and to look to the God of our salvation. As we heard and sang from Psalm 146 this morning, the God of Jacob is our help. Our hope is in the name of the Lord our God. The Lord who remains faithful forever. This story points us to him. And it testifies to the abiding truth that God grants hope that does not disappoint. And we will consider this morning how it is that he grants this hope from this story of the Shunammite woman. And our text reveals that he does so by promising it in his word. By granting true faith to grasp it. and by sending the man of God to secure it. Follow along as I read the word of God from 2 Kings chapter 4, beginning in verse 8. One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a well-to-do woman was there who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. She said to her husband, I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let's make a small room on the roof and put it in a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us. One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. He said to his servant Gehazi, call the Shunammite. So he called her and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, tell her, you have gone to all this trouble for us, now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? She replied, I have a home among my own people. What can be done for her, Elisha asked. Gehazi said, well, she has no son and her husband is old. Then Elisha said, call her. So he called her and she stood in the doorway. About this time next year, Elisha said, you will hold a son in your arms. No, my Lord, she objected. Don't mislead your servant, O man of God. But the woman became pregnant, and the next year, about that same time, she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her. The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. My head, my head, he said to his father. His father told his servant, carry him to his mother. And after the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, The boy sat in her lap until noon, and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and then shut the door and went out. She called her husband and said, Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return. Why go to him today, he asked. It's not the new moon or the Sabbath. It's all right, she said. She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, Lead on, don't slow down for me unless I tell you. So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, Look, there's the Shunammite. Run to meet her and ask her, Are you alright? Is your husband alright? Is your child alright? Everything is alright, she said. When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, Leave her alone. She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why. Did I ask you for a son, my Lord, she said. Didn't I tell you, don't raise my hopes? Elisha said to Gehaz, I tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him. And if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy's face. But the child's mother said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So he got up and followed her. Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him the boy was not awakened. When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. And he stretched himself out upon him. The boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, Call the Shunammite. And he did. When she came, he said, Take your son. She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. And she took her son and went out. Here ends the reading of God's word. And we begin this morning by noting in this account that God grants hope that does not disappoint by promising it in his word. According to our text, God did so to this woman, Ashunem, a town on a hill in Galilee, a town with a great view across the valley of Jezreel. Fifteen miles to the west was Mount Carmel. And to the south wound the main highway that ran through Israel to the capital city, to the palace of the king. And one day a woman watched as Elijah approached Shunem from the valley. Which way he came, we do not know. And she prevailed upon him to come and have a meal. Now the food and the company must have been good because he went back for more. Each time he came to town, he stayed with this woman. Now as a prophet of Israel, we need to remember that Elisha was a circuit rider, so to speak. He traveled the land, north to south, east to west, round and round, over and over. And every time he came through Shunem, he stopped to visit this woman. And in his ministry, he brought the word of God to all, without distinction. We considered last time the poor widow who had two sons. And this time, this well-to-do woman who was married but had no son. In a word, she was a great woman. That's what the text says, she was great. Not only did she have wealth and standing in the community, enough that she could own a house in town, enough that she could build an addition to house Elisha, but her actions also displayed a great character. In addition to her hospitality that would not be denied, she had discernment. And she knew that Elisha was no phony prophet, but he was a holy man of God. And as we see the story unfold, we see displayed in her wisdom and determination and perseverance. She was a great woman. She received Elisha into her home because he was a prophet. And according to Jesus in Matthew chapter 10 verse 41, anyone who receives a prophet because he's a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And Elisha wants to give her something. He doesn't know what to give her. He doesn't have anything. And certainly for a woman of her stature, there's nothing he can to offer her. But he does call to mind he has a little political capital in Samaria because of the victory over the Moabites and he suggests to her that what can be done for you? Can I speak to the king or to the commander of the army on your behalf? They certainly have the power and the wealth to do something for someone like you who has such stature. But she responds, I have a home among my own people. We don't understand that. In effect, she was saying, I have no need for aid from the king or from an army. I have no lack. I have no conflicts that need to be resolved. I have no quarrels with my neighbors. I'm living a life of contentment and peace. I don't need anything. Her motives were pure in her hospitality to Elisha. She wasn't expecting anything in response. But Elisha was determined and when she had stepped away, he talked to Gehazi and he said, what can we give her? And Gehazi had figured it out that she lacked one thing. Even though she appeared to lack nothing, she lacked one thing. Something the king and an army could never give her. She lacked a son. She had no son and her husband was old. Now she may have been barren and had no daughters. We don't know. That's not the point of the story. The point of the story is she has no son. She has no heir to inherit the land. She is an Israelite. She lives in the promised land. The promise had been given that through the generations that that land would be given generation after generation and she had no heir. So Elijah again spoke to her through Gehazi in verse 15 and he said, About this time next year you will hold a son in your arms. The prophet's reward would be given whether she thought she needed it or not. and her contentment was shaken. Elisha had rocked her world, as we might say today. The hope of this promise, an heir in the land, was greater than she dared to hope. And she objected. No, my Lord, don't mislead your servant, O man of God. Her husband was old, and she believed that having a son was impossible, and she didn't want any false hope. Well, just as Gehazi had spoken for Elisha, Elisha spoke for God. And this promise came from God and it spoke and it effected that which he had willed for it to do. So that we read in verse 17 that the woman became pregnant and the next year about that time she gave birth to a son. Just as Elisha had told her. God gives hope that does not disappoint by promising it in his word. And that's what he did for the Shunammite woman. But in this promise, we hear an echo of an earlier promise. In fact, this promise to her stands on an earlier promise, a promise given to Abraham. The hope that God gave to Abraham, that would not disappoint, was given through his word, and it was given to him in many places in Genesis. One place that's particularly clear is in Genesis chapter 15, beginning in verse 1. The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. But Abram said, O sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless? And the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, You have given me no children, so a servant in my household will be my heir. And the word of the Lord came to him. This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them. Then he said, So shall your offspring be. Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it. and immediately thereafter, Abraham wanted the confirmation, so the Lord made a covenant oath by the dividing of the animals and taking the oath to himself. He secured it by his own promise. Even then, Abraham went on to have a son, Ishmael, through Hagar, and he was going to make things happen his way. He received a sign of circumcision, and the Lord came to him again and said, Moses, or not Moses, Abram. Ishmael's not the one. I'm going to give you a son through Sarah. He's going to be the heir. And we read in 17, verse 17, that Abraham fell face down and he laughed. And he said to himself, Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90? And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael might live under your blessing. Let me have it my way. And then God said, Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. The hope promised Abraham by the word of God was an heir, an heir by Sarah, an heir through whom God would establish his covenant people. But this promise had two parts. According to the flesh, this promise was for a land for Abraham's offspring, the promised land. the Shunammite was the descendant of Abraham and was entitled to live in that land and with an heir, her son that was promised to Elijah would inherit the land but the promise to Abraham and his offering was for more than land more than an earthly and temporary inheritance it was a certain hope for a portion in a heavenly and everlasting inheritance and it would come through a particular son that would come through Isaac and that son was the seed of Abraham, the Messiah and to all who were joined to him through faith. Paul makes that clear in Galatians chapter 3 verse 16 through 18. The promises were spoken to Abram and to his seed. The scripture does not say and to seeds, meaning many people but and to your seed, meaning one person who is Christ. What I mean is this, the law introduced 430 years later, that's the law of Moses, through Moses, that does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, we're talking about the heavenly and everlasting inheritance, if that depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise. But God gave in his grace, God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. The promise given to Abraham was the promise of eternal hope. A hope that would not disappoint. It was a two-pronged hope. The hope of an earthly and temporary land that was conditioned upon the obedience of the people in the land. The law of Moses. And that hope disappointed. Why did it disappoint? Because the people disobeyed the law. They were exiled to Babylon. In fact, they're the first to read this book of 1 Kings as they try to figure out why they ended up there. But the hope of a heavenly and everlasting inheritance is conditioned on the obedience of the seed, Jesus Christ. And therefore, it will never disappoint. It will never disappoint Him, and it will never disappoint anyone who believes in Him through faith, Which leads us to our second point. That God grants hope that does not disappoint by granting true faith to grasp it. The Shunammite's faith is hinted at when she shows her hospitality to Elisha. But it's only when it's challenged that it shows itself in its full, much like it is for all of us. See, the child grew. He was not old enough yet to go to work and he went out to the field one day with his daddy to watch the workers. And he cried out, my head, my head. Now, moms and dads, you know that cry when your child is hurt. You know how your stomach drops and your heart race until you can relieve their distress. But dad didn't know what to do and he sent them back to mom. And mom couldn't do anything either and that child sat in her lap and died. Her son was dead. Her hope appeared lost, but her faith survived, and she did not mourn, nor did she prepare for a funeral. Her hope was in the Lord her God, the maker of heaven and earth, the Lord who remains faithful forever. And he had promised her this son, and he'd given it to her through Elisha, his prophet. And so to Elisha she went with no delay. In verses 21 to 33, we see the story of her trip to get Elisha and to come back. It's a beautiful story. And the sense you should get as you read it is it was all about speed. It was fast, fast, fast. No delays, no hurdles, nothing to distract. She had to get there and she had to get there now. And her trip began with the boy laid on the bed of the man of God behind a closed door. And it comes to an end with the boy still laying on the bed of the prophet dead, but with Elisha in the room behind the closed door. And it begins when she calls on her husband for a donkey and a servant to take her to the man of God quickly and return. Now, of course, he asked her why. This is an unusual request. It's not Sunday. It's not even Christmas. Why are you going to the man of God today? And she answered in a single word, Shalom. Peace. All is well. It's alright, as our NIV says. We need to know that that kind of response is an appropriate response to someone you don't want to answer fully. She had no time to explain. She was not going to be deterred. Peace. She saddled the donkey and warned the servant not to slow down for anything unless she told him to. And that servant drove that donkey at least three miles an hour, probably faster, so that she reached the Mount Carmel within four or five hours. It was a quick trip. And as she was approaching in the valley, Elisha saw her coming, and he knew something must be wrong. Why is she here? It's not Sunday. It's not Christmas. Why is she here? And he sent Gehazi to find out. And Gehazi asked about her family, about herself, about her husband, about her son, and she answered, Peace, Shalom. Again, not to be delayed, not to be distracted. And her desperation that has been hidden so long becomes clear when she abandoned all of her good manners, ran past Gehazi, and threw herself on the feet of Elisha. Totally inappropriate. And the Gehazi tried to push her away. But the man of God said, Leave her alone. She's in bitter distress. But the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why. The woman had not told her husband, and God had not told Elisha. But the intensity and reproach of her words made it clear that something was terribly wrong with the boy. Did I ask you for a son, my Lord? Didn't I tell you, don't give me false hope? Elisha responded immediately and sent Gehazi. He said, gird up your loins, run fast, take my staff and lay it on the face of that boy. But the Shunammite had come for Elisha. And we read in verse 30 that she was not going to leave without him. As surely as the Lord lives, as surely as you live, I'm not going to leave you. And so he got up and he followed her. Her faith is undeniable, although not yet perfect. She at least grasped the promise of an earthly and temporary inheritance in the land. An inheritance that depended upon her son. And she obviously believed that God, who had given him to her through Elisha, could and would bring him back to life. Had Elijah not raised the son of the woman of Zarephath? It had been done before. There was precedent. She had faith. But her faith, true faith, points us again back to Abraham, the father of our faith, and his faith to grasp the promise of God that God gave him. He gave him a promise not only for an earthly and temporary inheritance in the land, but for an eternal and heavenly inheritance in the presence of God. And Hebrews tells us that though Abraham lived in that land in a tent like a nomad, like a stranger in his own land that the Lord had promised to him, he looked forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God. And when the Lord made this promise to Abraham, we read it from Genesis 15, did you hear it? Abraham believed the Lord. And the Lord credited it to him as righteousness. He believed. And it was accounted to him as righteousness. The Apostle Paul comments on this in Romans chapter 4. In an extended argument where he makes it clear that the faith that was credited to Abraham as righteousness was a gift. God had no obligation to give it. This was not a reward for his faith. His faith was a gift and with it came righteousness. Even though God is not obligated to give it, he gave it anyway. He granted true faith for Abraham to believe. Yet even so, Abraham's faith, like the Shunammites' faith, was tested. In a remarkably similar way, the author of Hebrews comments in chapter 11, verses 17 through 19, By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son. Even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. You hear the parallels. They're undeniable. True faith tested and tried. But this gift of God, this true faith, is not restricted to those who are the physical descendants of Abraham, like the Shunammite. Abraham is the father of all who believe in his seed. For all who believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Paul teaches us in Romans chapter 4, verse 16, the promise comes by faith. Let me put that into my sermon title for you. God gives hope that does not disappoint by promise he gives in his word. That promise comes by faith, the true faith that he grants us to grasp it. Why? So that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham's offspring. If it's dependent on us, none of us would inherit. It comes from God. All of Abraham's offspring will inherit. And we today, like the faith of Abraham and the faith of the Shunammite, we who have true faith today will be tried. We will be tested. Perhaps with circumstances as dire as a Shunammite woman to the death of a child, the death of a loved one, the loss of what we thought was our hope. But the Apostle Peter encourages us in 1 Peter chapter 1 when he reminds us that these trials come for a reason. The same reason they came to the Shunammite. The same reason they came to Abraham. They come so that faith which is more precious than gold and which perishes when refined by fire may be likewise refined, purified, strengthened through the trial to the glory of God and the strengthening of his people. And why does Peter say this? Why does Peter say this to us today, that our faith will be tried in order to make it purer, stronger, more perfect? Because God has promised all the children of Abraham a living hope in Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham. This living hope will not disappoint. God has granted us true faith to believe it. And He's gone one step more. One step more, he has sent the man of God to secure it for us. Which takes us to our third and final point, looking back again to the Shunammite woman. God grants hope that does not disappoint by sending the man of God to secure it. He gave the promise. He gave her faith. But still the boy was dead. Elisha sent Gehazi ahead with his staff. And we have to ask why. Was it a mistake? Did he underestimate the problem? Did he want to send a message to Gehazi, to the woman, to the world, that symbols and ceremony hold no power in and of themselves? We do not know. We're not told. All we know is that there was no effect. The boy was still dead. The hope God had promised the Shunammite woman was finally and only secured when the man of God himself, the man she drew there by faith, The man that God had sent to Israel arrived in that room. And when he arrived, he alone entered the room. When we read the both of them, it's him and the boy. He alone arrived in the room and closed the door. And picking up in verse 33, he went in, shut the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. In his prayer, Elisha, the man of God, identified himself with this boy. as if to impart his life to his dead body and to take from him his death to himself. He got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. And as he stretched himself out over the boy, the boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room, and he got on the bed and he stretched out upon him once more. Elisha interceded with body and soul in earnest prayer until that boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. And then he called the Shunammite. And through Gehazi told her, take your son. And this time in reverent gratitude she fell at his feet, not on his feet, and bowed down to the ground and she took her son and she walked out. The Shunammite's son, her hope would eventually die. But his temporary resurrection not only secured for her an inheritance in the land, as we'll see in chapter 8. This story comes up for that very purpose. But it also pointed forward to the death and resurrection of Abraham's seed. Abraham's hope, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And it continues to point forward to our hope in Him of resurrection one day. In Galatians chapter 3, beginning in verse 26, Paul says, You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who are baptized into Christ have closed yourself with Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Jesus Christ is the true and abiding hope who does not disappoint. Not only did God promise him in his word over and over again throughout the Old Testament, God also granted Abraham and all of Abraham's children true faith to take hold of Christ so that in him we too are heirs of this promise, this eternal heavenly promise. But more than that, God sent him, the man of God to whom Elisha pointed, the God-man, Jesus Christ, to secure for us himself. Indeed, our salvation is all of God. He promises it, he gives his faith to believe it, and he sends his son to secure it. The Son of God himself appeared on our scene of death. All who came before him, including Elisha and Elijah and Moses and all the rest and all the ceremonies of the law were as helpless to redeem from death as Gehazi was with Elisha's staff. The word of God, who spoke into his existence all things by the word of his power, took to himself flesh and dwelt among us, like us in every way except for sin. He identified with us, mouth for mouth, eyes for eyes, hands for hands. And he interceded body and soul in earnest prayer for us, from the manger to the cross. He labored unto weariness and he labored unto death. He entered our death chamber alone. And he laid himself down. Not merely on our death, but in our death. He conquered our death by dying. And he gave us his life by lifting his life up again. God grants hope that does not disappoint by promising Jesus Christ in his word. By granting true faith to lay hold of him. And by sending Jesus Christ to secure himself for us. For all who believe on his name. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the truth that we have been revealed this morning is astounding and overwhelming. We all know what it is to hope. And we all know what it is to have a hope disappointed. It is the way of life in this world. And Father, you have lifted our eyes this morning through this tale of the Shunammite woman to you. To see that you are the God who gives hope that will not disappoint. Ever. Forever. You've told us about it. You've promised it in your word. You've promised Jesus Christ from the beginning. You've granted us true faith and laid hold of him. Apart from which we would be lost and dead forever. And you secured it through his life and his death and his resurrection in our place. The God-man sent here to save sinners like us. Oh Lord, we pray that we would be mindful of this great gift that you give us each and every day of our lives especially when the circumstances around us swell up and call out that we would fix our eyes on them. That we would remember our heavenly and everlasting inheritance in Christ and fix our eyes on things above, on heavenly things. To the glory of your name and to the comfort of our souls as we await for the day when we will be raised in glory. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.