The Faith of the Widow and the Shunammite

_VERSE 35._The women received their dead raised up to life.

This is the tenth and last fruit of their faith, which must be understood of these two women especially: the widow of Zarephath, and the Shunamite. The widow of Zarephath, giving entertainment to Elijah in the great famine, had this blessing vouchsafed unto her for her faith, that her dead son was restored to life by the Prophet: And the Shunamite that provided lodging for the Prophet Elisha, had her only son restored to life from death by the Prophet through faith. Now here we must observe, that these two women did not only believe in the true God; but more particularly, that God would use these his servants, as means to restore to life their two children that were dead: as appears by this, that both of them made means to the Prophet, for the reviving of their children; which they did, by faith.

But some will say, This last effect of faith, may seem to cross the Scripture elsewhere; which says, that Christ is the first fruits of them that sleep. How then could these that were before Christ's incarnation, be restored from death to life? Answer. Saint Paul's meaning is this; that Christ is the first of all those that rose from death to life, to die no more, but to live for ever. So, indeed, Christ is the first fruits of them that sleep: for, he rose to live for ever. As for these two, and some other, mentioned both in the old Testament and the new, that were raised from death to life, they rose not from the sleep of death, to live for ever, but to die again.

In this tenth fruit of faith, all Parents may learn their duty towards their children, in the case of sickness or such like. They must follow the example of these two godly women, and labor especially to show forth their faith in such duties as God requireth in such a case: to wit, they must humble themselves for their own sins, and for the sins of their children and family; praying earnestly to God for the pardon of them (for GOD may visit the iniquity of the Parents upon the children in bodily judgments) and entreating the Lord to restore them to health and liberty: and withal, they must use the ordinary lawful means of recovery in physic and such like, praying to God for a blessing thereupon.

This is their duty; but (alas!) the manner and practice of many Parents, is far otherwise: for, whereas they should first seek unto the Lord, and come to his Prophet, they either run first to the ordinary means of physic; or, being worse disposed, seek help of wizards and blessers by their charms and sorceries, forsaking GOD and running to the Devil. Indeed, the use of lawful means is not to be discommended simply: but this preposterous course is blame-worthy, and deprives many, of God's blessing in the means, That they seek help of Physic, before they have sought to the Lord, in this holy practice of faith.

Question. But how can the parents faith benefit the child? Answer. It cannot procure unto it eternal life: for, every one must be saved by his own faith in Christ. And, yet the child receives many a good blessing at God's hand, by means of the Parents' faith; as namely, the benefit of the covenant of grace in the seals thereof; besides the fruition of many temporal blessings, as life itself, in this place.

The consideration hereof, must move all parents, above all things, to labor for true faith: for, by the practice hereof, they shall be able to bring the greatest blessing upon themselves, and their children, and upon the lawful means which they shall use for their good. Say, the Lord shall lay his hand upon children and servants in a family, what must parents and masters do? Surely, the best way for help, is the practice of faith, in true humiliation for sin, and prayer to God for mercy, and for a blessing upon the means which they shall use. In all societies this is true, that by the faith of the governors, many curses are removed, and many blessings procured. God sends his judgments among us daily, and we know not when other more shall befall us: but for the removal and preventing of them, we must give ourselves to true humiliation and prayer; and so shall we find the Lord's mercy towards us, as these two women did.

And thus much of this tenth fruit of faith, and of them all severally.

Now, from them all jointly together, observe this special point; That faith is such a grace of God, as doth bring down from heaven upon every believer, all God's blessings that are needful for him. Who is he that desires not to be made partaker of GOD's blessings needful for him, both in soul and body? Well: the only way and means hereto, is to get a true and lively faith, and to put the same in practice, in all such duties as God shall require at our hands. The worthy men before named, obtained all the former most wonderful blessings, by means of their faith: By it they escaped the edge of the sword, they quenched the violence of the fire, waxed mighty in battle, etc. as we have heard.

Now, if faith be such a notable grace of God, then above all things in this world, let us labor for it. We must not content ourselves with lip-faith, and so presume upon God's mercies; but, we must labor for a true and lively faith in Christ, which may purify our hearts, and bring forth fruit in our lives. Here are strong motives to persuade us hereunto: for, what do we desire? Riches, honor, or favor, and grace in the world? Would we have health, and strength? Nay, the favor of God, which is all in all? Then, look to get true faith: for, in the practice thereof, you shall obtain of God, all needful blessings, both temporal and spiritual. Many toil themselves exceedingly, by worldly means to get temporal blessings, as health, wealth, honor, etc. and yet never attain thereto, because they seek them not by faith. I confess, natural men get many good things: but to them they are no blessings; because they want faith both in getting, and keeping of them: for, they lay all religion aside, and toil themselves wholly in worldly means. This course the child of God must beware of. Say, that a Prince bids one of his servants go to his Treasury, and there enrich himself with Jewels, with gold, and silver, and with whatsoever he lacks: what will this man do? Surely, first he will call for the keys, whereby he may unlock the doors and chests; for else he can get nothing. Behold, in the Ministry of his word, God shows us his full treasury, wherein we may enrich ourselves, with all his blessings: Now, we must not with the fool, run without the key, but labor first, for true faith; which is that key, whereby God's heavenly treasures are opened unto us: and, we must be sure that we have a sound key; that is, a true and sound faith, which may strongly turn about the locks of God's treasury. For, this is most certain, he that doth unfeignedly believe, shall never want any thing, either in body or soul, that is good for him to have. Every one will say, he believes; but the truth is, that true faith is rare: for, men's hearts are not purified, nor their lives changed; but they remain as sinful as ever they were: which causes God's judgments to be rife among us. Wherefore, as we desire our own good, both in soul and body; so let us labor for true faith, and show forth the power of it in our lives. And thus much of these Judges and Prophets, and of the fruits of their faith.

Verse 35. The women received their dead raised up to life.

This is the tenth and last fruit of their faith. It refers especially to two women: the widow of Zarephath and the Shunammite. The widow of Zarephath gave Elijah hospitality during the great famine. Her faith was rewarded with this blessing: her son, who had died, was restored to life by the prophet. The Shunammite, who had provided lodging for the prophet Elisha, likewise had her only son raised from death by the prophet through faith. We must notice here that these two women did not only believe in the true God in a general way. More specifically, they believed that God would use His servants as the means to restore their dead children to life. This is shown by the fact that both women went to the prophet and asked him to revive their children — an act of faith.

Some may object that this last effect of faith seems to conflict with what Scripture says elsewhere — that 'Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.' How then could people before Christ's incarnation have been restored from death to life? Paul's meaning is that Christ is the first of all those who rose from death to life never to die again, but to live forever. In that sense Christ is indeed the firstfruits of those who sleep — for He rose to live forever. As for these two women's children, and others raised from the dead mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, they did not rise to live forever. They rose from death only to die again.

From this tenth fruit of faith, all parents can learn their duty when their children are sick or in similar difficulty. They must follow the example of these two godly women and labor especially to show their faith in the ways God requires in such situations. This means humbling themselves for their own sins and the sins of their children and household, praying earnestly to God for forgiveness (for God may visit the sins of parents on their children in the form of physical suffering), and asking the Lord to restore them to health. At the same time, they should use the ordinary lawful means of recovery through medicine and such things, praying to God for His blessing on those means.

This is their duty — but sadly the practice of many parents is quite different. Instead of going first to the Lord as these women went to the prophet, they either run immediately to medical remedies, or — worse — seek help from fortune-tellers and practitioners of charms and sorceries, abandoning God and turning to the devil. Using lawful means is not wrong in itself. What is blameworthy is the wrong order — and this disorder deprives many of God's blessing on the means: they seek medical help before they have sought the Lord through this holy practice of faith.

Question: But how can a parent's faith benefit a child? It cannot earn the child eternal life — for everyone must be saved by their own faith in Christ. Yet a child does receive many good blessings from God through a parent's faith — including the benefit of the covenant of grace through its seals, and many earthly blessings as well, such as life itself, as in this case.

This should move all parents to pursue true faith above all else. Through practicing it, they will be able to bring the greatest blessing on themselves, on their children, and on the lawful means they use for their family's good. When the Lord lays His hand on children or servants in a household, what should parents and heads of households do? The best course of action is to practice faith — in genuine humility before God for sin, and in prayer to God for mercy and for His blessing on the means they use. In every community this is true: through the faith of those in authority, many curses are removed and many blessings obtained. God sends His judgments among us daily, and we do not know when more will follow. But to avert and prevent them, we must give ourselves to genuine humility and prayer — and in this we will find the Lord's mercy toward us, as these two women did.

That is enough on this tenth fruit of faith, and on all of them individually.

Now, looking at all ten fruits together, observe this central point: faith is a grace of God that draws down from heaven every blessing a believer needs. Who does not desire to share in God's blessings — for soul and body alike? The one and only way to obtain them is to gain a true and living faith, and to put it into practice in all the duties God requires of us. The worthy men and women named before obtained all those remarkable blessings through faith: by it they escaped the edge of the sword, quenched the violence of fire, grew mighty in battle, and so on, as we have seen.

Since faith is such a remarkable grace of God, let us pursue it above everything else in this world. We must not settle for lip-service faith and presume on God's mercy. We must strive for a true and living faith in Christ — one that purifies our hearts and produces fruit in our lives. There are strong reasons to do this. What is it we desire? Riches, honor, favor in the world? Health and strength? Or most of all, the favor of God, which contains everything? Then pursue true faith — for in practicing it, you will obtain from God all the blessings you need, both earthly and spiritual. Many people wear themselves out by worldly means pursuing earthly blessings — health, wealth, honor — yet never obtain them, because they do not seek them through faith. People without faith may indeed acquire many good things. But these things are not truly blessings to them, because they lack faith both in gaining and keeping them — they set all religion aside and exhaust themselves entirely in earthly means. The child of God must avoid this pattern. Suppose a king tells one of his servants to go to his treasury and help himself to jewels, gold, silver, and whatever he lacks. What will the servant do? First, he will get the keys, so he can unlock the doors and chests — otherwise he can take nothing. In the ministry of His word, God shows us His full treasury, where we may enrich ourselves with all His blessings. We must not, like fools, try to enter without a key. We must first obtain true faith — that is the key by which God's heavenly treasures are opened to us. And we must make sure we have a good key: a true and sound faith that can strongly turn the locks of God's treasury. This is certain: the one who sincerely believes will never lack anything — whether for body or soul — that is truly good for him. Everyone claims to believe. But the truth is that true faith is rare. Hearts are not purified, lives are not changed — people remain as sinful as they ever were. This is what causes God's judgments to be so frequent among us. Therefore, as we desire our own good in both soul and body, let us pursue true faith and show its power in our lives. That is enough on these judges and prophets, and on the fruits of their faith.