The king of Israel was supposed to be a servant of the Lord and a servant of His people. He was supposed to protect them, provide for their well-being and administer justice on their behalf. As it turned out, the king became a tyrant who demanded the service of others. Thus, it became the duty of the prophet of the Lord to accomplish all the tasks the king had abdicated. And in this chapter we see Elisha doing that, performing miracles and providing for the comfort and well-being of God’s people just as Elijah had done.
Some of these miracles may seem to be mundane to us, except for the restoration of life to the dead son of the Shunamite woman. No doubt it may also occur to the more skeptical person that this miracle, as well as all the others, have scientific explanations. The skeptic would argue that the label of miracle is merely the projection of the mind of the believer, a pious interpretation of some commonplace occurrence. Yet even if such events have rational explanations or causes, they are still miraculous because they took place in response to the prayers and actions of the prophet. They proved that the Lord God is in control of the natural world and all that occurs in it. He can use natural forces as He pleases to instill faith in the doubting, confound the skeptic, and bring glory to His Name. Thus He will still work miracles today though we rarely acknowledge this as so. Miracles occur every day because the Lord is stepping in to heal and to save countless people. We should then look for them but even if we do not see or experience them ourselves, we do believe that God never ceases His work.
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