Living in the Image of God M04S12

Bible accounts of the Shunammite couple appear tailor-made for understanding the individual responsibility to honor and support family leadership among a husband and wife. The couple was abundantly blessed through lasting close relationship with Prophet Elisha, which occurred because they honored and supported each other’s leadership of their family affairs. The husband was the overall leader while his wife was the spiritual gateway for the family and occasional leader in specific matters. Their honor and support for family leadership resulted in several benefits, through the relationship with Prophet Elisha: such as, their miraculous birth to a son, the son was restored to life after a sudden death, the family relocated to avoid a severe famine on the advice of Prophet Elisha, and they recovered all their lost property after they returned from exile.

This is the first in a bible study series to understand the individual responsibility regarding family leadership. The series is based on examples of husband-wife interactions from the bible and will include a discussion of the Shunammite couple, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Mary and Joseph. The discussion focuses on aspects of their husband-wife interactions that illustrate the individual responsibility to honor and support family leadership. The examples show the husband as overall leader with his wife as leader in specific matters and custodian of specific information.

The series begins with the Shunammite couple. We will see that several accounts from their life provide information that appears tailor-made for the study. The couple was abundantly blessed through lasting close relationship with Prophet Elisha, which was a direct result of their honor and support for each other’s leadership of family affairs. We will discuss their interactions in three events that highlight their honor and support for family leadership: their first meeting with Elisha, events of providing long-term shelter for Elisha in their home, and an “SOS, that is, Save-Our-Soul” call to Elisha.