THE WIDOW & THE OIL – 2 Kings 4:1-7

Preached Mothers’ Day; May 8, 2011
from
2 Kings 4:1-7

Theme: God’s provision is more than sufficient for those who trust and obey Him.

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(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

Every year on Mother’s Day, we enjoy a story of one of the great women of faith found in the Bible. And the story that I feel the Lord is leading us to consider today is one that is well-suited for the times in which we live.

Please open your Bible to 2 Kings 4:1-7. It’s there that we find an amazing story about a very poor woman living in very hard times—but who cried out to God in her time of greatest trial, and found Him to be abundantly sufficient to meet her needs.

It reads as follows:

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest” (2 Kings 4:1-7).

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This is a story about the ministry of the prophet Elisha. It would be easy to get him confused with another great prophet from the Old Testament named Elijah. But Elisha was the successor to the ministry of Elijah. And to appreciate this morning’s story, we need to take a moment or two to consider these two prophets of God.

Elijah—the first of those two prophets—was a mighty man of God who ministered to the northern kingdom of Israel during the spiritually dark days of King Ahab. Ahab was a very wicked king, who dragged his people down into idolatry and immorality. The Bible tells us that he did more evil than any of the kings of Israel who proceeded him. But perhaps the most destructive thing he did to bring his people down was to marry the daughter of the king of the Sidonians—a woman whose name will forever be proverbial in history for wickedness, murder and idolatry: the notorious Jezebel.

Now, King Ahab hated Elijah. That prophet was always rebuking him and preaching against his sin. Ahab’s kingdom had been stricken with a terrible drought; and Ahab blamed the prophet Elijah for it. He called Elijah the “troubler of Israel”—even though it was Ahab’s own wickedness that was the cause of all his troubles. But as much as Ahab hated Elijah, his wife Jezebel’s hatred for the message of the God of Israel exceeded even that of Ahab. She went on a murderous campaign to hunt-down and massacre all the prophets of God.

Do you remember the story of Elijah’s great victory at Mount Carmel?—the incident in which the God of Israel proved Himself mightily before the people of Israel by sending fire from heaven to consume the offering before all the prophets of Baal? Do you remember how, afterwards, the prophets of Baal were put to death? When it was all over, Jezebel sent a message to Elijah that said, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as one of them by tomorrow about this time” (1 Kings 19:2). What a dark, wicked, evil woman! And what dark, wicked, evil times these were!

Eventually, God called his weary, battle-worn prophet Elijah home. But before Elijah was taken away, God instructed him to anoint a successor to his prophetic ministry—a man named Elisha. And as powerful a prophet as Elijah was, the Bible tells us that God gave Elisha a “double portion” of the spirit of Elijah. Elisha, then, entered into his prophetic ministry during the extremely difficult and spiritually dark times that Elijah left. King Ahab had died; and so had Ahab’s son Ahaziah. Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram reigned in his place; and the Bible tells us that “he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them” (2 Kings 3:3). And Jezebel lived on—and was as wicked and murderous as ever.

And so, Elisha ministered at a time when Israel had suffered grievously because of several years of unrepentant immorality and idolatry on the part of its leaders. Famine had destroyed the land. The prophets of God had either been brutally murdered or were fleeing for their lives. But it’s then, in the midst of the story of these dreadfully hard times that we’re introduced to this wonderful woman of faith. And what a breath of fresh air her story is in the midst of so much sorrow and hardship and grief!

She gives us an example God’s faithfulness and abundant provision—in the midst of very hard times—toward those who sincerely trust Him and obey His commands.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Bible describes her as “a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets . . .” “The sons of the prophets” was the name that the Bible gives for those who had committed themselves to gather together as the “students” of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. They lived in community with one another, and constituted what we might call a spiritual ‘reform movement’ for the times. They stood out as God’s ‘set-apart’ people in the midst of a spiritually dark culture. This woman was the wife of one of those “sons of the prophets”.

But particular troubles had fallen upon her. Her husband had died; and had left her and their sons in a terrible situation of debt. It wasn’t because he had lived foolishly or wastefully; because her testimony of him was that he was a man who feared the Lord. There’s a tradition in Jewish teaching that he was a man named Obediah—a servant of King Ahab—who had feared the Lord greatly; and who had secretly hidden one hundred of the prophets of God in a cave from the murderous efforts of Jezebel, and had fed them with bread and water (1 Kings 18:3-4). But the Bible itself doesn’t tell us that this is so. It may simply have been that this woman’s husband was someone like Obediah—a man who had spent all he had in an effort to faithfully keep the prophets of God alive. And it may be that he, like many of them, had been brutally murdered by Jezebel.

However it came about, she was a widow—and a widow in those days was particularly needy and vulnerable. There were no relief organizations that could help her, nor any welfare programs to support her. And her situation was particularly dire; because the creditor was on his way to take her two young sons from her—sons that were apparently too young to work and help support her, but old enough to be taken into slavery as payment on the debt. And she had no guarantee that, in such dark times, those two sons would ever be seen by her again. What would become of them? Would they be treated cruelly? Would they be led away from the God of Israel, and taught to worship the false god Baal? Or would they be killed because they were the children of one of the sons of the prophets?

And so, she did the only thing she knew to do. She cried out to the God of Israel by making her appeal directly to the man that God had appointed as His spokesman to the people in those times of trouble. The Bible tells us; “A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves’” (v. 1).

* * * * * * * * * *

And I suggest, dear brothers and sisters, that it’s here we find the first great lesson that this woman of faith has to teach us. In a time of great trouble—in a time when, due to no fault of her own, all human resources were gone from her; and the creditor was literally on his way to take her sons from her—she cried out to God, who is the Helper of the helpless and the Defender of the orphan and the widow.

To cry out to Elisha was not a substitute for crying out to God. Rather, because Elisha was clearly called by God to serve as His divinely-appointed spokesman to the people of Israel, crying out to him was a vital part of crying out to God Himself. Her husband was a God-fearing man—a son of the prophets. He would have taught her to recognize and respect Elisha’s spiritual authority; and that the help that God would give to His people would be given through His spokesman Elisha. In crying out to Elisha, this woman was demonstrating the kind of faith in God that ought to characterize His people in times of trial.

Now; our situation is different. We don’t approach God through a spokesman. Jesus Christ, by His death on the cross, has opened-up to us full access to His Father’s throne. We may freely approach the heavenly Father with our needs, and be fully accepted by Him through His Son. But note carefully that, in doing what this woman did, she exemplified to us . . .

1. TRUST IN GOD IN OUR TIMES OF NEED.

For this woman, trust in God was translated into a cry to God for help. And when I thought of this, I thought of Kind David’s testimony in Psalm 34:

I sought the LORD, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!

There is no want to those who fear Him.

The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing

(Psalm 34:4-10).

And before we go another step further, let me ask: Is there a situation you’re going through like that of that woman’s? Are you pressed in, through no fault of your own, with a pressing need of some kind? Are you at the end of your rope, with no human help in sight? King David said that, as a poor man, he cried out to the Lord; and the Lord heard him and saved him out of “all his troubles”.

Then please, dear brother or sister; take full advantage of the access to the heavenly throne that Jesus Himself has opened-up for you by His own blood; and cry out to the Father. “Fear” Him—that is to say, reverentially honor Him as your Helper; and then, put action to your trust by crying out to Him as a child would cry out to his or her father. Don’t be silent about it; call upon Him! And don’t wait for someone else to do it for you; call upon Him yourself in Jesus’ name. Fear Him. Make Him your trust. Because God Himself promises in His word: “Those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.”

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; this woman cried out to Elisha in her need—and in crying out to God’s spokesman, she was crying out to God Himself.

And Elisha, in his response to her, made it clear that it was God who was her Helper; and not he himself. He said to her, “What shall I do for you?” I don’t believe that, in saying this, he was annoyed with her, or was in any way trying to put her off. I think of it as being very much like what Peter once said to the lame man who asked him for alms. Peter told him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). Elisha was just God’s spokesman—just a man. He probably didn’t even have any money himself. He could do nothing to help her. But he knew Someone that could.

I believe that—being a prophet—God told Elisha what He would do for her. And so, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, Elisha asked her, “‘Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ And she said, ‘Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil’” (v. 2). Oil was a valued commodity in those days. It was useful for many things. But all that she had was a small jar of it—hardly more than would be used to anoint one person. Have you ever been hungry and opened up the cupboard—only to find that there’s nothing in the pantry but a half-used box of baking soda? I think she said what she said in that same sort of spirit of helplessness over her lack—”nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

But she had cried out to God; and God can do great thing whenever we give whatever it is we have to Him—even if it’s nothing more than a small jar of oil. So; Elisha told her, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones” (vv. 3-4).

* * * * * * * * *

And here again, I believe we begin to see another great lesson of faith that she teaches us. Just think of what it must have taken to do what God—speaking through His spokesman, the prophet Elisha—was telling her to do. While the creditor was on his way, she was told to go door-to-door to all her neighbors and ask them for all the empty pots and pans and buckets and containers that they could spare. There would, no doubt, have been questions about it all; and she would have had to explain what the prophet had told her to do. Probably, there would have been a lot of loving folks eager to help, and ready to pray for her. Then, it would have taken some effort to bring all these vessels home. And then, she would have had to bring her boys inside, shut the door behind them, and begin pouring the oil.

Humanly speaking, it was a strange thing that Elisha told her to do. It didn’t make sense, and it involved something of a risk. But she obeyed. And in this she exemplified . . .

2. OBEDIENCE TO GOD IN OUR TIMES OF NEED.

It reminds me of the time when the multitudes were following Jesus. He healed them and taught them; and when it became late, the disciples appealed to Him to send them away so that they could go into town to buy themselves some food. All they had were five small loaves of bread and two small fish.

Do you remember how, instead of sending them away, the Lord Jesus told the disciples to make the huge crowd of 5,000 men—which, along with the women and children, probably was more like 20,000 people—to sit in groups of fifty each on the grass (Mark 6:39)? They would have all sat down expecting something to eat. Humanly speaking, it was a risky thing to do. But faith always involves some measure of risk; otherwise, it wouldn’t be faith. But nothing would have happened if the people hadn’t sat down as the Lord instructed. And because the disciples took the risk of obedience in a time of need, they—and tens of thousands of people—had a feast! Similarly, nothing would have happened for the woman if she hadn’t gathered vessels as she was commanded. And nothing will happen for you and me either, dear brothers and sisters, if we don’t take the risk and obey God in our times of need.

Once again, I need to stop and ask: Are you going through a time of trial? Do you have a need that is beyond your human capacity to meet? Are you at your rope’s end? The next question to ask, then, is this: Are you doing what God’s word tells you to do in your time of need? Are you faithful to both “trust” and “obey”?

You and I do not have a right to expect God’s help in our time of need if we don’t do what He says. But conversely, we have the greatest right to expect God to bless us in our time of need if we are careful to do exactly what He tells us to do in it. When I think of this, I think of the instruction that Pastor James gives us in James 1:22-25;

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25).

* * * * * * * * * * *

So; the poor widow did as she was told. As the Bible tells us, “she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out” (v. 5). She obeyed God’s instructions through the prophet Elisha.

And as a result, God marvelously provided. Her sons brought her a container, and she began to pour the only oil that she thought she had into it—and to their amazement, it just kept coming out! It came out as a steady stream of oil until the first container was full; and then, they quickly put another container under it until it was full; and then, another; and another; and another! I suspect her arm began to get tired; but she didn’t mind!

We’re told, “Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, ‘Bring me another vessel.’ And he said to her, ‘There is not another vessel.’ So the oil ceased” (v. 6). As soon as all of the vessels she had were filled, the flow of oil stopped. So long as people who trust and obey God have the capacity to receive God’s blessings, those blessings will keep on coming! Our capacity to receive God’s blessings will fail long before His ability to give them ever will.

This was miracle oil. As one commentator suggested, the fact that it was given from God no doubt meant that it was of top quality! And it’s interesting that the widow didn’t then just run out and do whatever she wanted to do with it all. She went and told the prophet Elisha. And we’re told that he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest” (v. 7). The value of the oil must have been significant; because it not only covered a debt that was worth the price of slavery of two of her sons, but it was sufficient for them all to live on until the time came that they were old enough to provide for her and themselves through the work of their hands.

And once again, we learn yet another lesson of faith from this woman. When we cry out to God in faith in our time of need and trust in Him as our Father and Provider, and when we then faithfully obey Him in our time of need and do exactly as His word tells us, then we can trust that He will prove Himself to be sufficient for all our needs—able even to give in abundance!

This assures of of . . .

3. GOD’S SUFFICIENCY IN OUR TIME OF NEED.

I think here of the testimony of the apostle Paul—a man who learned by experience to give himself over to the sufficiency of the Lord through faithfully trusting and obeying Him. Paul wrote;

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).

God is our great Provider, dear brothers and sisters. His provision is more than sufficient for us. And so, let’s learn—like this humble woman of faith—to “trust and obey” in our own times of need.