![]() (Although, at least once they each semi-switch to Messiah.) The dead sons are symbolic of Messiah, and the mothers are symbolic of Children of Israel - in particular, the accusers during Yashua’s life and then also the followers of Yashua after He rose from the dead. Elijah (“my God is Yahu”) and Elisha (“my God is Shua”) are symbolic in these two stories of, primarily, God. In my opinion, after examining these two stories I see a number of messianic explanations within them. The Zarephath woman uses the phrase, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.” One of the “key” elements in each story as to the symbolic identity of the mothers is the accusation of “lie” converting to “truth.” The Shunamite woman accused the prophet of “lying” to her about the gift of her son.The mothers each acknowledge the power and honor toward the prophet.Each child awakens and is presented to the respective mother.They each cried out or prayed to God and stretched themselves out on the dead child as if to “give their strength of life” to the child.(Elisha’s first attempt was with his staff through Gehazi.) Each prophet made three attempts to revive the dead child.Each mother went to the respective prophet and pleaded in a “blaming” manner, as if the prophet were responsible for the loss and sorrow over the son. ![]() ![]() Both stories involve the slow death on a son who is brought up to the room and bed of the prophet of God.Both sections are introduced with flour and/or oil being supplied by the hand of God to a widow and her son (or sons).In my opinion the following comparisons are worth examining: I am not finished with them yet, so I can only give you a partial answer at this time. In 1st Kings 17:21–22, where Elijah lies down on the dead child three times and revives him, is this a Messianic reference, and if so, can you tell me it’s significance? -Anna C.Ībsolutely! Funny you should ask, because over the last month or so I have read the companion story (2nd Kings 4:32–35) to my children a dozen times and have been slowly “working” on these two thematically duplicate stories for when I present them to our congregation.
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