As the stones were a memorial for Israel to trust the Mighty Lord so the Shunammite’s son was a memorial to teach us that women will once again receive their dead to life. There were only a handful of times the Lord parted a river; there were only a handful of times that the Lord raised women’s sons from the dead, but they are given as testimonies to us that we might not despair at the loss of loved ones but might know with certainty that the Lord will deliver the dead to life again.

So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.

II Kings 4:37 NKJV

After the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River in Joshua 4 and were on the plains of Jericho, the Lord told them to take twelve stones and set them up in Gilgal as a memorial to what the Lord had done by dividing the Jordan River. Why did the Lord require this? So that in years to come children would ask their fathers, “What are these stones?” The fathers would then tell their children that the Lord held back the Jordan so that the Israelites crossed over on dry ground just as they had the Red Sea. So all the peoples of the earth (and all the children of the Israelites) would know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and might fear the Lord God forever!*

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