Read 2 Kings 8 and Daniel 12.
This devotional is about 2 Kings 8.
Back in 2 Kings 4 we were introduced to a married couple who lived in a town called Shunem. That chapter described them as “well-to-do” (4:8b) meaning that they were wealthy. The wife in this family invited Elisha to come to their home for a meal and that became a pattern. 2 Kings 4:8c says, “So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.”
This woman was gracious with more than just their food. Verses 9-10 of chapter 4 describe how she planned with her husband to make a room on the roof for Elisha to stay in whenever he came to town. Then, in gratitude for their hospitality, Elisha asked God to give her a son and, after he did, he died but God raised him back to life through Elisha.
Here in chapter 8, the story of this family resumed. In our reading, we learned that Elisha told the family to leave when the famine was coming (v. 1) and they listened (v. 2) and lived in Philistia for 7 years. While they were gone, someone moved into their home and their land. When the family returned, the woman went to see the king to ask him to restore the land to her (v. 3). Wouldn’t you know it, just at that very minute Gehazi, servant of Elisha, was telling the king about the resurrection of her son (v. 5). Timing is everything and, in the providence of God, Gehazi’s story plus her appearance at the end of it caused the king to give her both justice and favor. Justice was the restoration of her home and land; favor was also getting “all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now” (v. 6e).
All of these good things that happened to her began when she showed kindness to God’s servant Elisha. By volunteering to feed him, then welcoming him back again and again to her dinner table, and then building a private room for him, she was aiding the Lord’s work by blessing God’s servant. After those acts of kindness, God blessed her again and again–giving her a son when she was childless, raising that son from the dead when he died prematurely, and restoring her home, land, and income.
The Bible does not guarantee wealth to those who bless God’s work, but it does promise blessings to those who give. Jesus said it this way, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
Are you faithful in giving to the Lord’s work? Are you generous with others and look for ways to volunteer and meet the needs of God’s servants?