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Elisha's Powerful Influence at Court
v. 1. Then spake Elisha, more exactly, he had spoken, for this incident had happened some years before, unto the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn, journeying to any country where the famine would not be so severe;for the Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
v. 2. And the woman, apparently a widow at that time, arose, and did after the saying of the man of God; and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines, which was near, and whose fertile lands 'vere usually not struck so heavily with scarcity, seven years.
v. 3. And it came to pass at the seven years' end that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines; and she went forth to cry unto the king, the chief judge, the highest court, for her house and for her land. Her property had either come into the possession of the crown, or some persons had illegally established themselves in the possession of her inheritance.
v. 4. And the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done, he was anxious to know more about the personal life of the great prophet.
v. 5. And it came to pass, by the direction of God, as he was telling the king how he, Elisha, had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house and for her land, her plea was brought to the king's attention at just this opportune moment. And Gehazi said, My lord, 0 king, this is the woman and this is her son, who had accompanied his mother, whom Elisha restored to life.
v. 6. And when the king asked the woman, she told him, she made her complaint. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, giving the adjustment of her case into the hands of one of his eunuchs, saying, Restore all that was hers, all her property, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now; she was to receive an amount of grain and produce equal to the full crop borne by her fields during her absence. The king had been so impressed with the recital of Elisha's deeds that he at least showed the woman the justice which she demanded. In a similar way even hardened sinners are occasionally stirred by evident works of God and try to do right for a time. But if one has become accustomed to sin and disobedience, it is only true repentance which is able to work a renewal of heart.