To prepare for this Bible study, please read the women in Christ commentary, A Great Woman (The Shunammite Woman) Part 2 and II Kings 4:8-17.
 
 

Part I The Example of A Great Woman, Part 2

1. II Kings 4:8-17 As a review, read this scripture passage and summarize in a sentence or two what you learned from last month’s commentary,  A Great Woman, and Bible Study Guide, A Prophet’s Reward.
 
 
 
 
 

2. II Kings 4:18-21 What happened to the boy? What do you think the Shunammite woman’s feelings were? What reason(s) can you think of why the mother concealed what happened?
 
 
 
 
 

3. II Kings 4:22-23 What does her husband’s question tell you about her religious practices and what her relationship with God might have been?
 
 
 
 
 

4. II Kings 4:22-28 The Shunammite woman makes five statements in these seven verses. What do her words and actions reveal about her state of mind? Why do you think she sought Elisha?
 
 
 
 
 

5. II Kings 4:29-31 Why would Elisha send Gehazi ahead with his staff? Why do you think the Shunammite woman refused to leave Elisha? (See II Kings 4:9)
 
 
 
 
 

6. II Kings 4:32-35 What can you learn from God’s apparent delay in raising the boy back to life?
 
 
 
 
 

7. II Kings 4:36-37 The people of this account, Elisha, Gehazi, the mother and the son, all died many centuries ago. Why do you think God preserved their story for you to read and consider?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Part II To Us A Son Is Given (Isaiah 9:6)

1. Luke 24:44-49;John 16:12-13 What writings* [See Editor’s Note below] did Jesus use to teach his disciples about himself and his work on earth? What does Jesus need to do for a person to be able to understand what is written about him?
 
 
 
 
 

2. Isaiah 9:1, 6-7; Luke 1:1-4, 26-38; Luke 2:8-14 Isaiah’s prophecies were written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. Why did the writer-physician Luke write his gospel account when others were available? What does Luke write in his first two chapters that identifies Jesus as the child, the son, of Isaiah’s writings?
 
 
 
 
 

3. Luke 2:41-50; John 4:34-35; John 5:16-21, 36-40; 14:8-14; 17:1-5 Whose work was Jesus doing?
 
 
 
 
 
 

4. Luke 22:66-71 Who did Jesus say he was?
 
 
 
 
 

5. I Corinthians 15:1-8, 20-28 Why should we believe Jesus is the Son of God?
 
 
 
 
 

6. Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:14, 26-29; John 3:13-21 How is Jesus a blessing to all people on earth? What do you gain by believing, following, and obeying him according to these scriptures?
 
 
 
 
 

7. Why do you think the account of the Shunammite woman was included in The Holy Scriptures? What is your honest, personal response to her story? Is there an action you want and need to take as a result of what you have learned?
 
 
 
 
 

*Editor’s Note: The NIV Study Bible study note on Luke 24:44 says: “Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. The three parts of the Hebrew OT (Psalms was the first book of the third section called the Writings), indicating that Christ (the Messiah) was foretold in the whole OT.” The first of the three parts (the Law of Moses) is often referred to as the Pentateuch which is the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.