Communion Meditation, November 6

2 Kings 8:6: So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.

Israel’s land was a land flowing with milk and honey, but it’s surprising how often we read about famine in this supposedly fertile land. Abraham had to leave the land for Egypt because of a famine, and Jacob and his sons went to Egypt for the same reason. During the period of judges, Elimelech’s family went to Moab because of a famine, and here in Kings Elijah and Elisha both announced famine. The Shunammite woman’s experience is typical of many in Israel, of Israel herself.

Yet, in each case the story is a story of return. Abraham returns to the land and builds an altar; Israel returns to the land and conquers it; Elijah leaves Israel during the famine, but returns to bring rain; Elimelech dies in Moab, but his widow returns with Ruth during the barley harvest. The land may lie cracked and desolate for a time, but the Lord has always revived it. He always, eventually, offers food.

Jehoram, as I mentioned in the sermon, is acting like a kinsman-redeemer, fulfilling the laws of Jubilee in restoring land to the Shunammite. But he is not merely fulfilling the strict letter of the Jubilee laws, which require only that the land be restored. He is also giving the Shunammite all her lost harvests, all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until her return. Though the Shunammite spends several years outside the land, she suffers no loss; all is returned to her, as Jehoram does for her beyond all she asked or imagined.

The Shumannite returns to the land after a seven year exile and that point is emphasized by repeated references to the seven-year period. After the week of famine, the Lord brings a new day of plenty. In the eighth year, the year after the Sabbatical year, the first day of a new week, Yahweh offers bread. This is the bread we eat, the bread of the eighth day, the bread offered by Jesus, who was raised on the first day, which is also the eighth day, the day after the Sabbath. And on this day, he gives above and beyond what we expect, not bread and water but bread and wine.