Bible Content

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

2 Kings 8:1–6

You may want to review 2 Kings 4:8–37 for the background of the Shunammite’s story. This account teaches the importance of maintaining rightful ownership of property and also provides a window into God’s extravagance in providing for our material needs.

Theologian Peter C. Phan summarizes social thought during the Old Testament period as follows:

Gerhard von Rad declares that there is no concept in the Old Testament as central and significant for all relationships of human life as justice or righteousness. Justice is the social principle that held the Hebrew social fabric together. It is the fidelity to the demands of a relationship as established by the law—the web of relationships between king and people, judge and complainants, family and tribe and kinsfolk, the community and the resident alien, the whole of humanity and God. Of course the law also commands love. Yet, in point of fact, the sense of solidarity is for the most part limited to fellow members of religion and race, even though the prophets often urge the Hebrew people to go beyond these narrow limits.

In Leviticus 25:23–24 God says, “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.”

Naomi’s situation in the book of Ruth seems similar. The family has resided in Moab for ten years, having migrated from Judah to escape a famine. Ruth 4:3 speaks of Naomi’s desire to sell her husband’s land, but two interpretations may be applied here: Either Naomi owns the land but is so poor that she feels she must sell it. Or alternatively, Elimelek may already have sold the plot prior to the family’s departure. In this case, the law makes provision for his widow to “redeem” it—buy it back. Since Naomi is now destitute, she looks for a guardian-redeemer to purchase back the land on her behalf.

In the Shunammite’s case, it is possible that the land has either been taken illegally during the family’s absence or been appropriated by the king, most likely either Jehu or Joram, due to its apparent abandonment. Her husband was already elderly when their son was born (see 2Ki 4:14), and there is no mention of him in 2 Kings 8. Phan indicates that widows and orphans “in the ancient patriarchal society were economically the most helpless since they did not have the aid of a male head of the family.”

An interesting detail in this story is the “fluke” of Elisha and Gehazi discussing her situation with the king at the very time the Shunammite arrives to plead for the return of her land.

Think About It

• If true justice were served in your neighborhood, what would be different?
• Could humans ever live in a truly just society this side of heaven? What would it look like?
• What “coincidence” in your life has served to verify God’s providence in some unforgettable way? How has this affected your stewardship of whatever was involved?

Pray About It

Lord God, your care and concern for justice in the details of our lives is amazing to me. Help me to see how you orchestrate all things to your ends. And help me to be a partner in your work.

Wisdom in Creation

1 Kings 4:29–34

This passage is a celebration of God’s endowment of great wisdom upon Solomon. It also celebrates the broader theme of God’s ordering of creation according to a majestic, divine design. God has infused his wisdom, as it were, into the very structure of material reality. And he has equipped the human race, created in his image, with the ability (the intellectual machinery) to, as German mathematician Johann Kepler (1571–1630) said, “think God’s thoughts after him,” in order to develop creation’s potential (note especially 1Ki 4:32–33). We as God’s designated stewards have been called to faithfully and intelligently cultivate creation’s potential. God wants us to varying degrees, based on the particular aptitudes and strengths with which he has gifted each of us, to draw out the fruitfulness of creation through engineering, entrepreneurship, development, intellectual understanding, the arts and so forth.

Bible scholar J. Richard Middleton depicts God the Creator as both a grand architect and a consummate artist:

Superimposed on and integrated with the picture of God speaking creation into being is the metaphor of God as designer and artificer, constructing with care, attention, obvious pleasure, and self-investment (as a good artist) a coherent, harmoniously functioning cosmos, according to a well-thought-out plan. This characterization of God as maker or artisan is rhetorically embodied in the superb literary artistry of the creation story, which moves from a preparatory statement in [Genesis] 1:1–2, through six “days” of God’s work, to the seventh climactic day (2:1–3), when God “rested” (šābat), satisfied, having completed his work.

Middleton goes on to articulate part of his understanding of the complexity of the imago Dei (“image of God”) as it pertains to humanity’s interactions with the created world:

[C]areful exegesis of Genesis 1:26–28 … does indeed suggest that the imago Dei refers to human rule, that is, the exercise of power on God’s behalf in creation. This may be articulated in two different, but complementary ways. Said one way, humans are like God in exercising royal power on earth. Said in another way, the divine ruler delegated to humans a share in his rule of the earth. Both are important ways of expressing the meaning of the imago Dei. The first expression—the notion of likeness to the divine ruler—suggests the image as “representational,” indicating a similarity or analogy between God and humans. The second expression—the delegation of, or sharing in, God’s rule—suggests the image as “representative,” designating the responsible office and task entrusted to humanity in administering the earthly realm on God’s behalf. But these expressions are not simply alternative; they are integrally connected.

Think About It

• How is God’s wisdom a part of our physical reality?
• In what ways are intellectual pursuits a part of God’s calling?
• How can people steward God’s creation through understanding it?

Pray About It

Lord, you have a unique calling for each of us. Those of us who seek and pursue the wisdom found in your creation—in any vocation or avocation of life—need your guidance to fulfill our role in your grand design.