The focus in the early chapters of Second Kings is on the prophet Elisha, who succeeded the prophet Elijah. A prophet was a courageous person who received his message directly from God and spoke that message to the people, boldly emphasizing the need for them to turn back to God. In chapters 4–6 of Second Kings, we see the miraculous power of God working through Elisha in triumph over debt, death, drought, disease, and difficulty.
Miracles
Miracles are an essential part of Christianity, and to strip the Christian faith of its supernatural element is to make it just another man-made idea or philosophy. Many are skeptical when it comes to miracles. The atheist Scottish philosopher David Hume argued against the very notion of miracles, but he could not prove that miracles have never happened, nor that they could never happen.
A miracle can be defined as a special exhibition of supernatural power, something wonderful and unusual that awakens a feeling of awe and wonder in those who experience it. Miracles are unusual and out of the ordinary; they go beyond, or transcend, the laws of nature. Returning to David Hume, he argued that if miracles happened, they would not be violations of the laws of nature, but the introduction of a new agent. That is exactly right, and God’s direct intervention into a situation is precisely what a miracle is.
If God is Almighty and the Creator of all that is, including the laws of nature, then we have no difficulty believing that God can perform miracles and overrule the natural laws He Himself created. The fact that miracles are revealed in the Bible and were witnessed by many people is strong evidence of their reality. For example, hundreds witnessed the risen Christ, the conqueror of death, who is the basis of the Christian’s hope of eternal life.
Elisha
In verse 7, Elisha is known for the first time as the “man of God.” According to V. P. Hamilton, the phrase “man of God” is found 76 times in the Old Testament. In First and Second Kings, it appears 55 times, and on 29 occasions it is used of Elisha. This is more than anyone else. As the man of God, he took on the mantle of the great prophet Elijah and continued that work of guiding Israel back to God and presenting the light of truth to the nation.
The Woman – Her Great Need (v.1)
We know very little about this woman but the information we have is very instructive and challenging for us today: She was a widow.
- She had been married to a man who belonged to a company of prophets. He had served God faithfully and devotedly, but he had died. She was grieving the loss of her husband, and we know something of such depths either from personal experience or from ministering to others in that situation. Who was her husband? Holy Scripture does not tell us, but the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, mentions this incident and claims it was Obadiah—not Obadiah the author of the Old Testament prophecy, but the man who was King Ahab’s steward and who, at great personal risk and cost, had protected the Lord’s prophets against persecution (1 Kgs. 18).
- She was a mother. She had two sons who would normally have been her means of support as she grew older, but they were in danger of being taken from her. So not only was she grieving, but she was also fearful for the future, which seemed to hold no hope, since her only means of support was about to be lost. She faced destitution.
- She was in debt. Clearly she owed a great deal, and it has been speculated that Obadiah had borrowed heavily to help feed and protect the dozens of prophets whom he had sheltered in times of persecution. She could not pay the debt and so could only look forward to a life of hardship, misery, malnutrition, starvation, and death as her two sons would be taken in payment for the debt. It was harsh but that was the law in those days, when debts had to be paid even if it meant that the two sons would be taken into slavery.
- She was a woman of faith. She clung to God and told the prophet about her problems but she did not offer a solution. She did not suggest what God ought to do, nor did she raise possible options; she simply told it as it was. Her situation was pitiful, desperate, and despairing. How often do we come to God and then tell Him how He should answer our prayers? We tell Him what the solution ought to be and so inform Him rather than ask Him. We seek answers on our terms and when they do not materialize, we ask the question “Why?” This may lead us into the depths of despair and even unbelief. God preserve us from such an attitude.
God’s Response – An Unusual Request (vv.2-4)
Elisha responded with two questions:
- What shall I do for you? Perhaps he was simply speaking aloud and wondering what God would do for this desperate lady.
- What do you have in the house? Her answer was almost nothing. All the food was gone and the wine had been used up, but there was one insignificant jar of olive oil. We can think of the disciples in the New Testament when they presented a few loaves and fish to Jesus and said, “What are they among so many?” What use was a jar of oil? The need was great and there was so little to meet it, but we remember that “little is much if God is in it.”
Elisha then issued two instructions:
- She was to visit her neighbors and borrow as many empty containers as she could get. Any kind of container that could contain liquid was to be acquired.
- She and her sons were to go inside, close the doors, and pour olive oil from her small jar into the vessels she had acquired. When each vessel was full, she was to set it aside.
This is when we see her faith shining brightly. She did not question the words of the prophet but immediately, and without delay, did exactly as he commanded. Faith is simply obedience to the commands of the Lord. The mark of a true Christian is obedience to the voice of God, as found in His Word.
The Result – Abundance (vv.5-7)
By a miracle of God’s grace, all the vessels were filled, and when she asked her sons for another container, she found that there were no more. All of them had been used, and at that point the olive oil stopped flowing. She went to Elisha and told him, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” It could be summarized as: “sell, pay, live.”
Conclusion
God is a God of kindness and generosity, and there is a special place in His heart for the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the weak. When we reflect the character of our Savior, we realize that we have a Christian responsibility to care for the needy and to do our best to meet their needs, especially their spiritual and eternal needs, which can only be met through the Gospel. We are also reminded in these verses that God meets more than the immediate need; He also takes care of the ongoing need. The woman’s debt was paid, and her future need for sustenance was provided. Human attempts so often meet only the immediate need and forget the ongoing need. God is a God of kind generosity, and therefore His followers should reflect His character and be people who give for the benefit of others.
In these verses, we have an unnamed, obscure widow, and yet she is held up as a wonderful example of faith and obedience to God. She may be obscure to us, but she was known to God, who is interested in the most desperate of people. May we follow our Lord’s example.