All is not good. Bitterness?
14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her. (2 Kings 4:13-17–ESV)
Not to be dissuaded Elisha privately presses Gehazi for something they can do for this woman. While she may have been contented Gehazi sees the glaring deficiency: no heir to the wealthy estate. “Ahhh,” thought Elisha and had Gehazi call the woman from where she had been now into Elisha’s presence. Familiarity not outweighing propriety she stopped at the doorway where Elisha would proclaim the blessing, but which I think stirred an old bitterness.
The sensitive issue in this household, the thing which floated as a dark cloud had probably been cordoned off behind certain barriers. Clearly a nerve is touched when Elisha makes his proclamation. Her reaction is pointed, and she comes very close to a rebuke. She does not respond with gratitude but standoffishness.
On reading this you can almost see her raising her hand to try and push that back into the bottle of Elisha’s mouth. She calls his exalted status and God as a witness to her words. The tenor of her words are not those of guarded joy, but words that suggest dishonesty, a toying with her, lies. And in many Biblical translations, the next verse uses the word “but.” It is as though the author of 2 Kings is saying, “Despite her push back she still became pregnant and delivered a son.”
So
Bitterness never really left her
I will not copy all of the next section, but we see that this child grew. He was weaned and entered into the family life. One day at harvest time he developed a terrible headache, told his dad of it and was carried to his mother. She took him into her lap and some few hours later he died in her arms.
We do not know what went through her mind as she sat there watching her son’s life ebb away. By the time he died though she had conceived a plan. She stood up with her now dead son, carried him to the empty quarters built for Elisha, and laid him on the bed. She closed the door and then put a plan in motion. Did God tell her, “Don’t be afraid, just believe”? That is what Jesus told Jarius. Did she harbor the bitterness thoughts? “I knew this would happen. It would have been better if this son would not have been born.” Did she chew on the memories of Elisha’s “gift”? Did that make her boil in anger? Did she just figure that God would restore this child?
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