OBEY & BELIEVE (All She Had - updated)
2Kings 4:1-7 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."
History: During this time in the northern kingdom of Israel there was no functioning priesthood. God raised up prophets who traveled and taught students – training young men in the ancient law. These students were called “sons of the prophets” and this woman’s husband was one of them.
All the woman had was some oil and it wasn’t enough to pay off her debts. It is not known what her debts were – all we know is that her husband had died and he was most likely the provider of the family. No life insurance back then. No social security benefits either. What kind of debt did he leave behind? Did she have any other family members who could have helped?
This woman was down to her last dime. She had nothing except a lot of debt and she was about to lose her children. As a mom, my heart breaks for this woman. Her husband was in ministry and served the Lord. Now, not only was he gone but her children would soon be gone also.
The woman called her husband a servant of Elisha’s. She also called herself his maidservant. Her husband may have been a student and I think he may have told his wife about the things he was learning and she wanted to serve also.
We don’t know the age of her sons but they were probably young boys. If they were grown men, they would have provided for her. The woman finds Elisha and tells him what is happening. It sounds like Elisha may have known the husband and that he was a believer.
Back to our verse – I wonder if she really had nothing in the house but oil – did she not have any clothing, furniture, or utensils? Was her house completely empty except for a jar of oil? It is possible that she sold everything to help keep them going and the oil was the last thing she had. Was the creditor coming because the husband was dead? Or would he still have come if he was alive? Did the creditor see an opportunity to get 2 slaves because she had no one to protect them? Lots of questions, but no answers. The Bible doesn’t give us any of that information. All we know is that she was poor with no way to care for her sons.
Elisha started off by asking what she already had & went from there. He worked with what she had. We already have what we need – we just need to use it. Elisha asked her how he could help. When someone dies we usually say “let me know if I can help”. This woman needed help and she asked for it. She didn’t try to handle things herself. She could put her pride aside and ask for help. Verse 1 says she cried out – and her cries were heard!
There are many times that I cry out. And God hears my cry and gives me that first step. Sometimes I don’t understand that first step and God has to give it to me again and again. Other times I want to know all the instructions up front. Maybe I can skip a couple of steps and get things done quicker. But God is not concerned with how fast we complete the process but that the process is completed in us.
Then, she believed what Elisha told her to do – step 1. She didn’t question him as to how this going to help. “Why do I need all these empty jars? I don’t have enough oil to fill them.” Instead, she sends out the boys to get jars. Then she started filling jars – she was on a roll and asked for more jars – she wasn’t ready to quit! I wonder what she was thinking when she filled one jar, then two jars and the oil was still flowing out of the one jar that she had. I think I would have stopped and taken a peek inside that jar! No record of what she did except that she kept pouring until she ran out of vessels. She was going to keep going as long as God wanted her to. (We don’t know what sizes the jars were. We also don’t know if she gave any oil to any of the people who gave her jars.) And then there were no more jars. Her task was finished. Elisha was not in the house – only the woman and her 2 sons. No one else saw this miracle. When she was done, then she went and told Elisha and he gave her the next instruction. She didn’t complain about running out jars. She didn’t scold her sons for not getting more jars than they did. How much oil did she end up with? Apparently, it was quite a bit. Enough to pay off her debt and then enough to live on. It doesn’t say how long it would last but it gives the impression that it was enough for her and her sons to live on – no need to acquire any more. Quite possibly it was enough to last until her sons were old enough to work and provide for her.
She accepted the amount that God had provided. And it was enough. In the Bible, oil represents the Holy Spirit. All this women had was oil. So, all she had was the Holy Spirit and that was enough. God provided miraculously. She may have been poor but her faith was rich.
We don’t get the instructions all at once. Elisha gave her the first step – collect the jars and fill them with oil. Then step 2 – sell the jars, pay your debts and live on the rest.
God will give us the first step. When we obey and do that first step, then we get the next step. If we don’t obey, we don’t get the next step.
Do you have enough? If not, who are you looking to in order to have enough? Is your faith starving and in tatters? Feed your faith (on the word of God), believe His promises and watch your faith grow.
This woman obeyed, trusted and had faith. I can learn a lot from this woman. To have the faith to know that when I cry out, that God hears me. Not only does He hear me, but He also answers me. His answer puts me on the right path, one step at a time. She didn’t seek the counsel of the ungodly. She went to the one person who would guide her with the wisdom of God. This woman had faith and she relied on that faith. Where do you seek counsel?
Psalm 1:1-2 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.
