Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 2 February, 2025
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
The Old Testament Offerings (1)
The Burnt Offering [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Leviticus 1
Text: Leviticus 1
I. Its Prominence
II. Its Distinctiveness
III. Its Typology
IV. Its Calling
Psalms: 66:8-17; 118:15-21; 40:6-10; 51:14-19
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Holy Spirit Given to Me [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:1-18
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 20
I. How Is He Given to Me?
II. To What End Is He Given to Me?
Psalms: 139:1-10; 118:22-29; 51:6-13; 143:8-12(AOS)
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 1: “‘But to what purpose,’ would some say, ‘was this waste? Why should all this good meat, which might have been given to the poor, and have served their hungry families for food a great while, be burnt together to ashes?’ So was the will of God; and it is not for us to object or to find fault with it. When it was burnt for the honour of God, in obedience to his command, and to signify spiritual blessings, it was really better bestowed, and better answered the end of its creation, than when it was used as food for man. We must never reckon that lost which is laid out for God. The burning of the sacrifice signified the sharp sufferings of Christ, and the devout affections with which, as a holy fire, Christians must offer up themselves their whole spirit, soul, and body, unto God … This is said to be an offering of a sweet savour, or savour of rest, unto the Lord. The burning of flesh is unsavoury in itself; but this, as an act of obedience to a divine command, and a type of Christ, was well pleasing to God …”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Monday catechism classes:
5:00 PM: Hannah, Penelope & Xander (Seniors OT)
5:45 PM: Grace, Jonas, Liam & Sammy (Beginners OT – Book 2)
6:30 PM: Eleanora, Felicity, Jorja & Sophie (Juniors OT)
7:15 PM: Jason, Kyan, Maisie & Sebastian (Heidelberg Catechism – Book 1)
The Council meets tomorrow evening at 8 PM.
Tuesday Bible study will meet this week at 11 AM to look at Paul: What did he do in the period between Damascus and Antioch when he was in Arabia? Did he receive the gospel or preach it?
The Belgic Confession class will meet on Wednesday at 7:30 PM considering the question, What about Antichrist’s intellect and will?
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled, “Creation” (Ps. 19:1-6).
Offerings: £1,087. Donation: £200 (New Jersey).
Translation Additions: 1 French, 1 Polish, 1 Russian and 2 Spanish.
PRC News: Hope PRC (Redlands, CA) called Rev. Bleyenberg (Lacombe, AB). Rev. D. Holstege (Wingham, ON) declined the call from Cornerstone PRC. Grandville PRC called Rev. Eriks (Unity, MI). Grace PRC will call from a trio of Revs. Eriks, Langerak (Trinity, MI) and Maatman (Southeast, MI). Lynden PRC will call from a trio of Revs. Eriks, D. Holstege and Marcus (Peace, IL). Southwest PRC has a new trio of Revs. D. Holstege, Langerak and Maatman.
Miracles Performed by Elisha (2)
Brian D. Dykstra
II Kings 4
In the last article, we noted the first of four miracles recorded in II Kings 4, the miracle of the multiplication of oil. There are three miracles left in this chapter for us to consider. The next miracle in this chapter involves the great woman of Shunem.
As Elisha served God’s people while travelling his circuit throughout Israel, he would pass through Shunem which was on the road between Samaria and Carmel. The town of Shunem was in the tribe of Issachar in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa and at the foot of Little Hermon. It is less than twenty miles southwest of the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee and three miles north of Jezreel. Jezreel means “scattered,” a reference to the scattering of seed by the farmers who lived in this fertile area.
In this town was a “great” woman. She was not great in the sense of her personality, although we will find admirable qualities in her. Nor was she great in the sense of being tall or large. She and her husband were great because they were wealthy. Jewish tradition maintains that this Shunammite was the sister of Abishag, the beautiful young woman who ministered to the aged David (I Kings 1:1-4).
The soil of Shunem was fertile, the farmers there were industrious and the people were independent-minded. Commentators state that the religious life of the people in this area had not deteriorated as much as it had in the rest of Israel. The combination of hard work and godly living produced wealthy farmers and beautiful women, for not only was Abishag from Shunem, but it was also where Solomon’s beloved, the woman of the Song of Solomon, lived, if those who believe that “Shulamite” (Song 6:13) is a variant spelling of “Shunammite.”
Elisha passed through Shunem frequently and the great woman noticed this. Rather than act impulsively or on her own initiative, she, as a faithful godly wife, approached her husband with the idea of providing accommodations for Elisha. They decided to build a furnished chamber “on the wall.” We should not think of a house on a wall such as Rahab’s in Jericho. One possibility is that a room was made by the main gate of the house. Here are Edersheim’s thoughts: “In Palestine an outside stair led up from the road to the roof of the house, so that it was not necessary to pass through the interior of a dwelling. Part of the roof of the house she would now surround with walls, so making an ‘upper chamber’ of it.”
Elisha desired to do something in return, but the Shunammite reported that she lived peacefully and securely among her own people. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, points out that the couple were childless and that the husband was old. It was not unheard of in Bible times for a husband to be significantly older than his wife. Such was the case with Boaz and Ruth, and David and Bathsheba. This couple, however, had given up hope that they would have a child.
Elisha announces the Shunammite would have a son. Her response, “Nay, my lord, thou man of Go, do not lie unto thine handmaid,” is not evidence of a lack of faith. She had longed for children and, not having received any from God, must have contented herself with God’s will. This announcement was too good to be true and she thought it would not be kind for a man of God, who should be devoted to truth, to raise her hopes only to have them come to nothing. God kept His promise. We can imagine the couple’s joy.
The son grew to the age when his body became firm and strong. He was fully able to help his father with work on the farm. Because the son complains about pain in his head, commentators conclude that he suffered heatstroke. A worker took him to his mother but the son died on his mother’s lap at noon. The two of them were alone and nobody in the household knew of her son’s death.
The Shunammite’s reaction is a display of great faith. We do not read that she gave a loud, heart-wrenching cry and wept bitterly. She quietly went to Elisha’s chamber, laid her son on Elisha’s bed and left. Did she do this because she knew how Elijah had raised the widow of Zarephath’s son? In faith she was already making her plans to go to Elisha to have her son raised from the dead. She did not gather grave clothes or sweet-smelling spices to prepare her son’s body for burial. Rather, she announces to her husband that she will go to Elisha and return. In her interaction with him, she gives no indication of their son’s death. Her eyes are not red with sorrow, nor her face streaked with tears. She is not so emotionally distraught that she can barely speak. Her husband, who was not cold-hearted or uncaring, could read nothing in her demeanour to indicate that his son had died for when he questions his wife about why she needs to see Elisha, she simply tells her husband, “It shall be well.” He must have understood her statement to mean that their son had recovered and there was no need for concern.
The Shunammite takes her trip to Carmel to see Elisha. She rides a donkey while a servant walks behind the animal with a stick to drive it. She directs her servant to go as fast as he can and not slow down for her. The estimate is that the journey to Carmel would take five or six hours. If we take the shorter estimate and imagine that the discussion between the Shunammite and Elisha did not take long, Elisha and the rest must have returned to Shunem deep in the night hours, around midnight, and that is without giving any consideration to feeding, watering, or giving the donkey a time for rest.
Elisha directs Gehazi to hurry to Shunem. Gehazi may not even take time to greet people along the way, which people in that time and place enjoyed. Elisha’s instruction to Gehazi is that he “lay my staff upon the face of the child.” Why did Elisha attempt to raise the child by means of the staff and why did this fail? One commentator says necromancers used staffs to summon the dead. They would not allow their staffs to encounter anything lest the virtue of the staff be ruined, which explains why Gehazi could not greet anyone along the way. That is a foolish suggestion for Elisha did not look to the practice of necromancers as a source of help.
Elisha goes to his chamber and enters the presence of the child alone. The parents are not there. The household or community are not invited to witness this magnificent work. The Spirit works privately. First, Elisha prays and, when he lies upon the child, “the flesh of the child waxed warm.” Elisha also walks back and forth in the house, and returns to the child. This resurrection did not happen immediately but took some time. We also note that only Christ could command the dead to rise, while prophets and apostles petitioned God to raise the dead.
There are commentators who claim that the staff was not effective but contact with Elisha was, because the staff pictures the law while contact with the living Elisha pictures the living bond of faith the believer has with Christ. This miracle illustrates that we are not saved by keeping the law, but by a living faith in God and His promises. While we can appreciate the orthodoxy of the statement, looking for allegories in every detail of a miracle will lead to strange conclusions. We would then be led to discussions as to why the child sneezed instead of having a seizure or a bodily quaking, or why the child sneezed seven times instead of three, ten or twelve.
We are thankful for the great woman’s example of faith. Although there was a time when she was disappointed with God’s providence in that He gave her a much-desired son only to lose him, she knew, by faith, that God’s promise would never disappoint. She trusted that God would restore life to the son He had promised she would have. The life of salvation which God has given us in Christ is not a gift which can be lost. God promises to finish the work which He has begun until all His children have everlasting life in glory.
