For Our Admonition Part 8
“Intimacy with Christ Raises the Dead”
Key Verses: 2Ki 4:29 – 4:37
All true men and women of God have to come to their wits ends (Psa 107) and cry out for deliverance before they are being raised up with Christ. It is a long and arduous process (Rom 8:22, Act 14:22) that we cannot endure on our own. We will discover or rediscover in this study the immutable truth that intimacy with Christ is needed to know Him and that oneness of mind is the very thing that is saving and raising us up.
Joh 5:39 NKJV You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
Joh 5:40 But you are not willing to come to Me (My Body, The Christ) that you may have life.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (Christ), and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Here are the final verses of this story of death and resurrection of the young son.
2Ki 4:29 KJV Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
2Ki 4:30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
2Ki 4:31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
2Ki 4:32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
2Ki 4:33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.
2Ki 4:34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
2Ki 4:35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
2Ki 4:36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
2Ki 4:37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
This is a story about resurrection from the dead. Yet it is also a marriage story because it is a story about oneness with the Body of Christ who is also the wife (Eph 5:32) and Bride of Christ (Rev 19:7, 2Co 11:2). This intimacy is both: 1) how we ourselves are saved from our sins and 2) in turn help save one another by having the same mind. Such is the importance of fellowship and being connected to the living Christ via true communion.
Luk 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
His Kingdom has come within us, His elect in every age since Pentecost, and we are communing together eating the Bread of life and drinking His wine. This intimacy is in matters of the Spirit and not physically whatsoever (Joh 6:63) as we all lie in the bed of Christ sharing one mind and resting in His truths. Our spiritual body is the Body of Christ, of which we are just a part (1Co 12:12) if we are connected.
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
We continue to learn from this story both the do’s (Elisha) and the don’ts (Gehazi) of raising up the dead which is an integral part of our calling and election as the Lord’s disciples.
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
We saw last time that Gehazi represents a leprous “mixed multitude” spirit of faith and flesh (2Ki 5:27). This is us trying to serve two masters and do right by God but keeping the old man alive. Gehazi and we serve Christ with zeal yet before our hearts have been changed through heavy trials. We have a lot of strong meat left to eat (Heb 5:13) before our obedience is being fulfilled and we are caused by scourging grace to obey the Lord (Rom 5:20, Eze 36:27).
Psa 37:28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
Elisha instructs Gehazi to prepare for the tough task and not to engage with the world on his way to raise the young son of faith back to life. Walking the straight and narrow way is the walk of the people of God in following Christ’s commandments.
Pro 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Eze 1:12 And they (The Cherubims, God’s Elect, Whirling Wheels) went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
It is when we turn (do not go straight) that we turn to the left or to the right that we go above what is written and engage with a carnal world. This is how we add to or take away from the Word of God which are the Lord’s instructions. Such disobedience brings spiritual sickness and delays our entering into age abiding “eternal” life (Rev 22:18-19).
2Ki 4:30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he (Elisha) arose, and followed her.
2Ki 4:31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
Gehazi’s efforts of raising the boy via Elisha’s staff failed to raise up spiritual life. Knowledge alone does not cut it, it takes abiding in the fire that is Christ, which is evidence of our believing, by which we are set free from sin and prove ourselves (Joh 8:32). The child did not hear, nor did he speak and remained dead in his bed. Several lessons and inferences can be drawn from Gehazi’s spiritual impotence and failure at performing the greater works of Christ (Joh 14:12) in raising the spiritually dead to new life.
Mat 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Unable to hear and speak spiritually is all of us when we are bound by lies (demons) that vex us in our unbelief. It reminds us of a story of some carnal disciples, not yet converted, who themselves doubted and served two masters like Gehazi and who could not cast out the demon spirits keeping a boy vexed of the devil. But Christ (Elisha) can and will and teach us how we can do it through Him (prayer and fasting). The parable in Mark 9 is a NT witness to the failure of Gehazi and the success of Elisha in casting out deaf and dumb spirits which allows the boy to be raised to new life.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Mar 9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Another lesson is that those the Lord is working with in this age, His sheep, will not hear nor follow the voice of a stranger. Gehazi, as a leprous gainsayer, is a stranger and a thief and a robber (Joh 10:1). Those of God hear God’s Word when spoken by His sent preachers and angels (1Jo 4:6) and the voice of a stranger they will not follow.
Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
When we have exhausted our own efforts of raising the dead by the strength and power of the flesh then Christ (Elisha) comes.
2Ki 4:32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
2Ki 4:33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.
2Ki 4:34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
The details of Elisha’s actions here are very instructive in how we, as God’s elect, are to raise up the dead (Christ in us doing the work). We are His instruments of salvation (Oba 1:21, 1Co 6:2) doing the greater works (Joh 14:12) to one another now and all men in the Lake of Fire age to come.
Shutting the Door: Shutting the door is symbolic of what Christ does for us in separating (dragging) us from the world and our former way of life (disobedience).
Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Christ is the door and the only way to find truth and life (Joh 14:6). It is the Lord’s prophets and ministers that as His Christ, are the door, that all men must one day enter into the Temple that is the Body of Christ and the Tree of life.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
By virtue of our entering in this way, we also then become shepherds of the sheep and able ministers of the grace of God.
Joh 10:2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Praying to the Lord: We are told that everything we ask, we shall have, if we ask in faith consistent with the Lord’s will. That prayer is also to be done in secret and not to win the praise or esteem of men (Mat 6:6).
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Elisha gets to know the boy: Elisha then lays down upon the boy symbolizing laying down his life for the sheep after the example of our Lord (Joh 20:21). Like our Lord, we know who the Lord’s and we are following Christ’s example in laying down our lives for His sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
A hireling like Gehazi is at this time, does not lay down his life (Joh 10:12-13) like the example of Elisha, a representation of Christ in type and shadow. We see the spiritual example of breathing life into a person dying (Rom 1:20) by Elisha stretching and touching the boy.
Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation: To be of one mind, we must kiss the Son that is the Body of Christ. This is not a literal kiss, it is a commandment to not forsake the assembling of ourselves with one another (Heb 10:24-25). This Body and our Lord is the only sacrifice for sins we have been given and we best take full advantage of our election.
Psa 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psa 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Rom 16:16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
Eye to Eye: There is not division within the true Body. We all see eye to eye and are being like minded, with the mind of Jesus Christ. We see things the same way and stand on the Word to judge righteous judgment and guide us in every action and thought.
Isa 52:8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
Luk 11:34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
Act 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Hand to Hand: The work of God gets done by the hands of God which hands we are if we belong to Him. God has brought us together in a Body for the express purpose of manifesting good works. We saw the Mark 9 parable earlier where Christ takes the boy by the hand and lifts Him up. That is an example of good works we The Christ do today.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
We teach one another through the Word and by our examples of how we live our lives. Laying hands on one another is how the Spirit of God is imparted and we grow in the faith and Lord willing move onto maturity by doing likewise as was done unto us. Elisha putting his hands on the lad’s hands is illustration of the Body being joined together and learning and teaching one another through the Living Word. The physical stories and events in the Bible are parables (Mar 4;11). They show us that is it thru oneness with the Body of Christ that the Holy Spirit comes.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
This oneness brings warmth, there is heat that emanates from a physical body and there is also spiritual heat (via the Words of Fire) that emanates from the Body of Christ (Rom 1:20). The Body is the fire (Isa 33:14-15) and we are each a flame of fire when we act according to faith and the commandments of the Lord.
Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
It is that fire that warms us to Christ and ultimately gives us a zeal for Christ and brings salvation and our ability to walk uprightly in obedience (Eze 36:27, Isa 48:10).
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Being raised from the dead is a process as that is the same process of judgment that redeems us to the Lord (Exo 6:6, Isa 1:27, Rev 20:4). Elisha’s patience and perseverance of stretching (bowing) himself over the dead child eventually pays off and the child sneezes seven times and opens his eyes awake and alive.
2Ki 4:35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
The word for sneezing or sneeze is found nowhere else in the KJV Bible and there is some dispute that this verse is mistranslated as sneezing is not found in the Septuagint. Strong’s seems unsure of himself in guessing at an extended meaning.
H2237, zârar,zaw-rar’ – Total KJV occurrences: 1
A primitive root (compare H2114); perhaps to diffuse, that is, (specifically) to sneeze: – sneeze.
Breathing is a most important bodily function because without air, without sufficient oxygen, flesh dies very quickly. We can survive days without food and water but only a couple of minutes without air. The most vital sustenance of life is our process of breathing in and out. Sneezing is an important part of this vital life function. Here is Wikipedia’s explanation of what sneezing represents in the physical.
Wikipedia: The function of sneezing is to expel mucus containing irritants from the nasal cavity. A sneeze is a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth, usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal membranes
Spiritually speaking, applying Romans 1:20, sneezing is a very appropriate symbol of how we expel the toxins and poisons of our unbelief that keep us bound in sin and abiding in death.
Mar 7:20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Abiding in truth will have us spontaneously expel (sneeze) out over times, the spiritual toxins (the sins, lies, unbelief) that are polluting our air and defiling our earth. As we believe and receive Christ, we are given more power to stand and walk in righteousness.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The bowing and sneezing seven times is no random number. We know the number 7 symbolizes COMPLETION. To be raised to new life and being matured in Christ, we, must be completed and live through the life and trials the Lord has written in our books before the world was even formed (Psa 139:16). It is God’s elect, “The Christ” who are the priests (Rev 5:10) of God who carry the Word (Ark) and blow the seven trumpets of judgment in both the OT (Jos 6:4) and the NT (Rev 8:2). As a type of Christ, Elisha, is showing us our role and duty as God’s angels to minister to one another.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
One mind, one baptism, in the bed of Jesus Christ is our entering into the rest that remains for the people of God, which people we are Lord willing (Heb 4:9-10). It is abiding in the Body where we are being judged and saved and raised to newness of life.
Joh 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Our story ends with the boy awakening and being given back to his mother.
2Ki 4:36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
2Ki 4:37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
It is our coming to Christ in the upper room where we will take up our new born son of faith. We cannot just read our Bibles and warm ourselves by the fire. We have to abide in the fire and become the fire to be saved and save others.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world (later in the lake of fire)
This baptism by fire (Mat 3;11) is the second coming of Christ (Elisha) and is our entering into His rest. This is what kills the old man, purge sin from our midst and raise us up to the glory of our Lord. This is the goal we all should have in mind daily.
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead (to the flesh and the world) is freed from sin.
If one is struggling with sin and battling giants in the land, all of us in our times and seasons, these lessons are a great reminder of where we need to be focused to get deliverance. The inclination of the carnal mind is to run and hide and cover ourselves. Yet it is running towards Christ, towards the fire that will hasten (accelerate) the appearing of Jesus Christ within us (2Pe 3:12-13). Hopefully that is the desire and goal of everyone reading this study.
Sincere questions and comments are always welcome. You can also email me directly at peterjwilson56@gmail.com.