Widow & Oil - English from Crown Financial Ministries on Vimeo.
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2
Kings 4:1-7 (NLT)
Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
4:1 “One day the widow of
a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who
served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has
come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha
asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
“Nothing at all, except a
flask of olive oil,” she replied.
3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many
empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind
you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when
it is filled.”
5 So she did as she was told. Her
sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim!
“Bring me another jar,” she
said to one of her sons.
“There aren’t any more!” he
told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
7 When she told the man of God what
had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and
you and your sons can live on what is left over.’”
“But now a creditor has
come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
This woman; was the widowed wife whose husband
was one of the sons of the prophets, and she unfortunately, had debts with no
means to repay them.
Now first, we
must resist the temptation of the devil, to run to the thinking that
this woman has just mishandled her money or that she was a foolish woman!
Anyone who is living through this strange period
of life which we are in right now, will understand just how quickly it is to
run ‘out of money’.
And although, they did not have such things as
‘credit cards’ back then during these days, there were still those who were
willing to ‘help you out’ of those tight spots that we all get in.
You know, During the times when our crops have
been hailed out, or the rains just seemed to come at the wrong time and our
crops either didn’t grow or they just rotted in the fields. We have all had
those unexpected doctor or hospital visits that just seem to run a bill up to a
ridiculous level. And we also know that this woman had recently lost her husband
so there would be the burial expenses and with growing children, their stomachs
just don’t seem to have a bottom.
But to top it all off, this woman was a God-Fearing
woman and their household was ran in the same way. And this pulls in a fact
which many new believers as well as long-time believers seem to be misguided in
and that is that Believing in God does not mean that we will be shielded from
the hardships of life. But it is rather the opposite. God uses His people to
attract others to Him and this is often done on the ‘HOW’ the believers live their lives. And this woman has
most certainly lived up to God’s expectations.
Just as it seems, there will always be those
around us who use our misfortunes to build their own fortunes. We have an example
within this event. Today, we have those who charge unreasonable-high-interest-rates
but back then, it was at the cost of slavery of her children.
See, the legal system in Israel would not
allow her to declare bankruptcy; but rather, it called for her to give up her
sons as sold-labor-servants to her creditor as payment for her family’s debts.
This seems totally inhumane to us now, but
back then, it was the creditor’s legal right. The Mosaic Law allowed him to
enslave the debtor and his children as far as the Year of Jubilee in order to
work off a debt.
“Nothing at all, except a
flask of olive oil.”
It seems that there was nothing of value at
all within the house except, the jar of oil. With this being written this way,
we can assume that this jar would not be one which is used for cooking but rather
a jar of oil which is used for anointing. As a pastor, at all times, I carry
such a bottle of oil within my pocket. So, based upon that, this would have
been a very small jar of oil.
“Borrow as many empty jars
as you can from your friends and neighbors.”
Go to your neighbors and “borrow their empty jars”. Elisha instructed this
woman to commit herself within her faith to God’s provision. To borrow vessels
in this manner must have brought forth awkward questions to say the least, but
she did as the Word of God through His prophet instructed her to do.
“So, she did as she was told.”
This woman reacted in Faith. There was no
second guessing. There was no amended plan used. And she involved the entire
family in following these instructions. This woman and her household, stepped
out in faith, trusted the Lord, threw caution to the wind of what others would
be thinking of her and they acted unitedly.
This should pull our own thoughts to what
would we have done or what Have we Done in these same situations when God has
given us directions to follow. Do we act as this family has? Do we step into
our Faith without questions? Do we act immediately?
“There aren’t any more!”
We see within this story the ‘HOW’ God
answered her plea of help from Him. He gave and gave until, there was no more room
to give! God answered in such a huge way that He not only provided for her
within her time of need, but it set her up for the future as well.
·
She had asked God for help.
·
She did as she was commanded to
do.
·
And she, within her faith, she Expected
God to act.
·
And through that Faith, God did
Answer.
If we do not receive an answer to our prayers,
maybe the first thing we need to examine is the ‘HOW’,
How are we praying to God for that need?
And, did you notice, that Elisha made her do
this? Often, as leaders or people of faith, we take it upon ourselves to do
this for others. As an example, we know that Elisha was not a lazy person so I
am sure he would have loved to have gone out and collected the jars for oil
himself but God seeks action from the people He is wanting to help. Just as we
can not save others, we also are limited on just helping others and not DOING
it for them. They need to come before the Lord and they need to find the Trust
within Him. We can most certainly help through prayer and advice, but THEY are
the ones who have to do.
These are only a few thoughts that are within
this scripture so I encourage you to read it once again, then spend some time
in silence and ask God, what are you wanting me to come away with from Your
Word.
God Bless.
