Elijah and Elisha both raised children from the dead.
In Elijah’s case, the child of a widow in Zarapheth died after he had promised that her food would not run out for the duration of a drought. Confused that her son who had been spared starvation would die of illness, she complained to Elijah, who took the child’s body from her, laid it on his bed, “stretched himself upon the child three times,” and pleaded with God, “Let this child’s soul come into him again.” The child revived, and Elijah delivered him alive to his mother, who said, “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth” (1 Kings 17:17-24).
Elisha’s experience was similar. After he promised a woman that she would bear a son, she conceived and gave birth, but years later, the boy died suddenly and inexplicably. The woman found Elisha and persuaded him to come to her home. Elisha prayed, and then lay upon the child, his mouth on the child’s mouth, and his eyes on the child’s eyes. The child’s body became warm, he sneezed seven times, and Elisha invited the mother into the room, saying, “Take up thy son” (2 Kings 4:8-37).
These stories teach two principles:
- Death is not permanent.
- God can restore a person who has died.
Jesus raised at least three people from the dead during his mortal ministry: the son of a widow in Nain (Luke 7:11-16), Jairus’s twelve-year-old daughter (Mark 5:35-43; Luke 8:49-56), and his friend Lazarus (John 11:1-44). The last of these occurred shortly before His own death and resurrection, so that His apostles would easily remember the event when they saw Jesus alive again.
Similarly, in the Americas, Nephi raised his brother Timothy from the dead shortly before the arrival of Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 7:19; 19:4). Both of them served as His disciples. The power of God overcoming Timothy’s death may have made it easier for them to understand the Savior’s resurrection.
During the Savior’s ministry among them, He also raised a man from the dead (3 Nephi 26:15).
Temporary resurrections can help us understand the doctrine of eternal resurrection. They remind us that God has power over death, and that He can restore a person’s spirit and body permanently.
Today I will be grateful for the testimonies of the resurrection embedded in these stories of people being raised from the dead. I will remember that death is not the end and that God has power over it.
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