SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Lessons on Silence from the Shunammite Woman

I have often thought about the story of the Shunammite woman who invited Elisha into her home whenever he passed through the town of Shunem.

This story is often talked about in the context of the woman’s kindness, generosity, and willingness to open her home to someone she later recognized as a man of God.

Most often, when we read about her, the focus is on how she welcomed the prophet and was blessed for it. Indeed, her kindness to Elisha eventually led to a promise she did not even ask for—a child. From the Bible account, this seemed almost impossible because, as Gehazi pointed out, “her husband is old” (2 Kings 4:14 KJV).

But another part of her story fascinates me.

Her silence

Years later, the precious child she had been given suddenly became ill and died.

The KJV tells the story this way:

And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head.” (2 Kings 4:18–19 KJV)

The boy was carried back to his mother, “and sat on her knees till noon, and then died” (2 Kings 4:20 KJV).

Just like that—from crying “My head, my head,” the child was dead.

Now it gets interesting. Pay attention:

The woman, seeing what had happened, did not cry out, scream, or call the neighbours. The Bible says she carried the child upstairs, laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door, and left (2 Kings 4:21).

She did not even tell her husband what had happened.

Instead, she asked him for a servant and a donkey so that she could “run to the man of God, and come again” (2 Kings 4:22 KJV).

Her husband was puzzled. Why was she going to see the prophet that day?

She did not explain.

She simply said:

“It shall be well.”

(2 Kings 4:23 KJV)

And she went.

I imagine she may have met other people along the way. We do not know. And if she did, she probably told them the same thing she told her husband: It shall be well.

But we do know that when Gehazi (Elisha’s servant) came towards her on Elisha’s instruction and asked, “Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?” she still did not tell him what had happened.

Her answer was simply:

“It is well.”

(2 Kings 4:26 KJV)

This was the prophet’s right-hand man. Yet she still did not speak about the death of her child.

Even when she finally reached Elisha, she did not begin by saying, “My son is dead.”

Instead, she caught hold of his feet and asked:

“Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?” (2 Kings 4:28 KJV)

Then comes another surprising silence.

When Elisha sent Gehazi ahead with his staff, he gave him very specific instructions:

“If thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again.” (2 Kings 4:29 KJV)

“In other words: Do not stop. Do not talk. Do not even answer a greeting.

The Bible does not tell us why Elisha gave this particular instruction. Perhaps it was because of the urgency of the situation. We do not know. But the instruction is striking: Gehazi was not to engage anyone in conversation—not even to exchange a greeting.

These silences have always perplexed me.

Why did the Shunammite woman keep quiet?

And why did Elisha tell Gehazi not to speak to anyone—not even to answer a greeting?

The Power of Words

The Bible says:

““Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV)

This means that we have the power in our mouths to declare death or speak life. And we can choose which one to speak.

Perhaps the Shunammite woman understood that speaking words in a moment of crisis could confirm a reality of death she did not want to accept as final. It could also give validity to death as the final outcome.

But silence could also protect her from what others might say. Conversation can introduce another voice, another suggestion, another plan—even one presented as coming from God—and distract us from what we believe or an instruction we've already received.

But you might say: The child really was dead. What could go wrong with speaking about it?

Well, speaking about it would naturally draw sympathy from people. People might encourage her to accept what had happened. Someone might even begin making preparations for the burial of the child, therefore confirming a situation she was not ready to accept.

Her response, “It is well,” when everything was clearly not well, is almost a picture of faith.

The Bible says:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

What she could see was a dead child.

Yet she said, “It is well.”

And look at what she did. She laid the child on Elisha’s bed, shut the door, and went straight to find Elisha.

Her actions were an extraordinary show of faith. She knew where her help would come from and did not speak about the situation to anyone except the one who could help her.

The Psalmist speaks to this confidence:

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.”

(Psalm 121:1–2 NIV)

We see something similar in the account of Jairus.

Jairus came to Jesus because his daughter was dying. He pleaded with Him:

“My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.” (Mark 5:23 KJV)

But before Jesus reached the house, people came with another report:

“Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?” (Mark 5:35 KJV)

Why bother anymore?

But Jesus immediately responded:

Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36 KJV)

In other words, despite the report that had just come to Jairus, Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.”

Despite the reality, only believe.

By the time Jesus arrived at the house, the atmosphere was completely different from the quiet scene we see in the Shunammite woman’s home.

Scripture says Jesus saw “a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly” (Mark 5:38 NIV).

Matthew adds another detail. When Jesus arrived, He saw “the minstrels and the people making a noise” (Matthew 9:23 KJV). The NIV describes them as flute players.

Historically, flute players and professional wailers formed part of Jewish mourning practices surrounding death.

There was commotion. There was crying. There was wailing. There were people gathered around the reality of death. The mourning activities had already begun.

Then Jesus said something extraordinary:

“The maid is not dead, but sleepeth.” (Matthew 9:24 KJV)

And the Bible says:

“And they laughed him to scorn.”

The physical reality before them was clear. The child had died. Yet Jesus did not respond

the way everyone around Him was responding. He spoke differently about what was before Him: “The maid is not dead, but sleepeth.”

The Shunammite woman’s actions show something similar.

She knew what had happened to her child, but she did not announce his death. She said:

“It shall be well.”

And later:

“It is well.”

It was as if she was hearing the same instruction from Jesus: “Be not afraid, only believe.”

And there is an interesting contrast between these two stories.

At Jairus’s house, everyone knew the child had died. There was commotion, crying, wailing, mourners and funeral music.

At the Shunammite woman’s house, no commotion or drama is recorded around the child at all.

She laid him on the prophet’s bed.

She shut the door.

She did not speak to anyone about the child.

And she went for Elisha.

Her silence meant she did not have to stand there listening to people tell her what she already knew. She did not have to hear, Why bother going to the prophet? The child is dead. She did not have to listen to musicians playing funeral music or to a crowd that might laugh at any attempt to say anything other than, The child is dead. Why bother?

She saved herself from all that with her silence.

A More Recent Story

These stories may be from Bible times, but the challenge they present is still very much with us today: what do we do when we receive a terrible report, but are still believing God for a different outcome?

Andrew Wommack, an American televangelist, tells of a similar experience involving his son Peter.

Wommack recounts receiving a call telling him that his son had died. According to his testimony, his son had already been taken to the morgue.

Wommack says that he refused to accept that report as the final report.

During the drive to the hospital, rather than dwelling on what he had been told, he and his wife deliberately turned their attention towards God. He says he focused on the promises of God, on faith and on the hope of seeing his son alive.

According to Wommack’s account, before they arrived at the hospital, his son revived and sat up.

What a miraculous account.

What interests me particularly about his testimony is what he says he did during that journey.

He had received a terrible report, but he deliberately refused to spend that journey dwelling on it. Instead, he turned his attention to what he believed God could do. He sang praises and declared the Word of the Lord over the situation.

And that brings me back to the Shunammite woman and Elisha’s instruction to Gehazi.

Perhaps she was onto something with her silence.

So what does this mean for us?

What Can We Learn From Silence?

1. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent.

The Bible says there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7 NIV).

Silence is not always weakness or avoidance. Sometimes wisdom is knowing when not to speak. We need discernment to know when to engage and when to be quiet about a situation.

And when we do speak, even when our circumstances say one thing, we can choose to speak life rather than death.

2. Choose life. Speak life.

God said:

“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV)

And Proverbs tells us that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV).

The Shunammite woman saw death, but she chose to speak life:

“It shall be well.”

“It is well.”

Jesus stood in the presence of death and spoke differently too:

“The maid is not dead, but sleepeth.”

When there is a choice to make, choose life. Speak life.

3. Be not afraid. Only believe.

There was a space between Jairus hearing “Thy daughter is dead” and seeing his daughter alive again.

Jesus told him what to do in that space:

“Be not afraid, only believe.”

Sometimes the hardest part of faith is that space between the report and the turnaround.

Even when the report is not good, and people are saying, Why bother?

ONLY BELIEVE.

4. Be careful whose voices you allow around you. Sometimes, shut the door.

The Shunammite woman shut the door.

Elisha later entered that same room, “shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD” (2 Kings 4:33 KJV).

Jesus put the mourners outside before going in to Jairus’s daughter.

When Tabitha died, Peter “put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed” (Acts 9:40 KJV).

An interesting pattern: shutting the noise out.

Sometimes we may need to shut the door—to the noise, the opinions, the predictions and the voices that make it difficult to remain focused on God.

Not everyone needs to be invited into our crisis.

5. Stay with God’s Word while you wait.

What do we do between the report and the turnaround?

Stay with the Word.

Meditate on it. Remember His promises. Sing. Pray. Keep your heart focused on God rather than continually rehearsing the problem.

“You will keep in perfect peace

those whose minds are steadfast,

because they trust in you.”

(Isaiah 26:3 NIV)

Guard your heart.

Guard your words.

Guard the voices you allow around you.

Keep your mind on God.

Choose life.

Shut the door.

Only believe.

May the Lord grant us wisdom and discernment to understand the times we are in and to know when our silence is required. In Jesus’ name.

Have a lovely weekend. See you on Monday.