Women in white raiment

by John Lemley

What a beautiful lesson of faith! We suppose if any of her neighbors had known that all these empty borrowed vessels were for the purpose of experimenting with a little pot of anointing oil, it would have created a sensation. Some, doubtless, would have said, the creditor, in threatening to take her sons, has driven that poor widow out of her mind. Why, such a thing as filling these pots, and firkins, and great casks of ten and fifteen gallon capacity, with a little pot of oil has never been heard of in Israel, and we can’t understand who could have put such an absurd idea into the poor woman’s head. Indeed, there was good reason for shutting the world out, for, if they had seen her take down the little pot of oil and attempted to pour into the vessels, they would have laughed her to scorn. But then, we Christian people should know that the things which are impossible with men, are perfectly possible with God. Yea, He loves to multiply the impossibilities of men, that no flesh may glory in His presence.

Then also the number of vessels borrowed speak well for the faith of this woman. Our Lord tells us, over and over, according to our faith shall it be done unto us. If her faith had been small, and she had been content with a few vessels, the oil would have ceased to flow when the last vessel was filled. If our heavenly Father is ever pleased with the action of His earthly children, it must be over the audacious faith of a poor woman who, in her poverty and distress, borrows of her neighbors empty vessels for Him to fill out of His gracious benevolence.

But not all women, in the time of the prophets, were widows and poor, but even the rich needed the consolations God only can give in times of trouble. And so our story runs on from the widow of Sarepta and the widow who, in her extremity, appealed to Elisha, to the rich woman of Shunem.

Over against Jezreel, under the base of Jebel Duhy (the so-called “Little Hermon”) amid luxuriant gardens of lemon, orange and fig trees, which cast their refreshing shades over the hot and sultry bridle-path, is the village of Sulem, in which we recognize the ancient Shunem, rendered so dear to every lover of the Bible by the beautiful, sweet story of the rich Shunammite woman who prepared a prophet’s chamber in her house, where Elisha often found a shelter from the oppressive heat of the noontide sun as he passed that way.

The little city, in the division of the land, under Joshua, was allotted to the tribe of Issachar, and is three miles north of Jezreel, five miles from Mount Gilboa, about four miles from Nain, where our Lord raised the widow’s son, and is in full view of the sacred spot on Mount Carmel. In the southern section of the village, at the base of the hill Moreh, flows out a transparent stream of sparkling water, which renders the fields green and beautiful, said to be the finest in the world.

Amid these enchanting and picturesque scenes lived the Shunammite. The Bible gives her no name. She needs none. She is simply “a great woman.” Standing in her doorway, in three directions, she could look out over the fields of grain, and see the slow movements of the heavily loaded camels drudge up from the seaport of Acre, or down through the great plain of Esdraelon from the mountains of Naphtali or the hill country of Gilead, beyond the Jordan. If Elisha came from Carmel, he would approach Shunem by the Acre road. Accompanied by Gehazi, one of the sons of the prophets, she could see them trudging along the dusty camel path at a great distance, and she said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God.” So much for the personal appearance of Elisha. He carried a good face, which commended itself even to this discerning woman. Prompted by the manly bearing of the prophet, he had scarcely reached the gate when she stood before him, and pointing to her home, “she constrained him to eat bread.”

It appears that Elisha passed frequently through Shunem. No doubt Carmel, which lay in the middle of the northern part of the kingdom, was the place where the faithful worshippers of Jehovah, who lived in the north, came together from time to time, and were strengthened in their faith, and instructed by the prophet. This would call Elisha to pass up from Carmel to Shunem and the north. “And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.” Happy household! Most gracious hospitality! That sweet home, amid the olive groves of Shunem, ever afterwards became the resting place of the good Elisha.

The pious, but keen-sighted woman, who at the first recognized in Elisha “an holy man of God,” was not deceived or disappointed when she became more fully acquainted with him in his frequent stops. Indeed, she must have been very favorably impressed with his bearing, for she proposed to enlarge her hospitality. She said to her husband, “Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall,” that is, upon the flat roof of the house, with walls which would be a protection against storms, “and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool and a candlestick.” Beautiful and thoughtful provision. In such a room Elisha would be protected from every interruption, such as it was hardly possible to avoid entirely in the house, and there he might pass his time in quietness.

Elisha wished to make some return to his hostess, who had received and entertained him so liberally and so often, but he did not know what would be acceptable to her a woman of wealth. In order to learn this, he does not address himself directly to her, but directs his servant to ask the necessary questions, that she may express herself with less embarrassment and less reserve. He asks, “What is to be done for thee? Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?” This question presupposes that Elisha at that time stood in favor and respect at court. The king, in this instance may have referred to Jehu, whom Elisha caused to be anointed. The commander of the army is named in connection with the king as the most powerful and most influential man at court.

This excellent woman sent a most beautiful reply to the prophet. “And she answered, I dwell among my own people.” She asks no recompense for the good she had done. She wishes to have nothing to do with the court of the king, and the great ones of the world. She had no favors to ask, and desired no political honors. Hers was a contented life. Perhaps, in this reply, she wished to show, at the same time, that she had not entertained the prophet for the sake of any return, but for his own sake, and for the sake of God. She had received him in the name of a prophet, and not for the sake of a reward, or any temporal gain. She loved God, and therefore loved His servant, and she showed him kindness, because this was the law God had written upon her heart. Although she lacked that which was essential to the honor and happiness of an Israelitish wife, namely, a son, yet she was contented, and no word of complaint passed her lips—a sign of great humility and modesty.