“And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither” (II Kings 4:9,10).

This sparsely furnished little room, built by a kindly woman and her elderly husband, was the prototype of all the so-called “prophet’s chambers” that have been built for traveling teachers and evangelists ever since.

Little did this simple farm couple anticipate what fruit their kindness would bear one day, in this very room. “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:” the Bible says, “for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). In the first place, to show his appreciation, Elisha prayed that the Lord would give them a son, and God miraculously answered (II Kings 4:16,17).

Then, tragically, the boy died quite suddenly several years later, while Elisha was at Mount Carmel, some 15 miles away. The Shunammite woman laid her son on Elisha’s bed in the prophet’s chamber, then saddled her donkey, and rode hastily to find Elisha and bring him to the boy. The round trip must have taken her two days or more, and the boy’s dead body lay on the prophet’s bed in the little room all that time.

But then Elisha prayed once again, and the most amazing event took place there (II Kings 4:33–35). For the very first time in history, a dead person was restored to life.

The Shunammite woman and her son are never heard from again. But for 3000 years, the testimony of a little chamber, and the love and faith of the godly woman who prepared it as a simple service for her Lord and His prophet, has been an inspiration and example to multitudes. HMM