Have you ever been in a
desperate situation that you were willing to do whatever it took? That saying,
"Desperate times call for desperate measures" is the case for this
poor widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7. Her husband who was a prophet (Obadiah) is dead.
He has left her in a financial crisis. She's deep in debt and now her sons are
going to be taken from her as slaves in payment of what she owes. She's
desperate to do whatever she can to keep her sons from being taken.
Let's flashback a moment
to her husband's story. Obadiah, her husband, is a prophet. He was an Edomite
from Betharam, near Shechem
and had converted to Judaism. The Edomites were decendants of Esau.
Obadiah was from the family of Eliphaz, the Teminite in the book of Job. We now
see why the book of Obadiah was written for the gentiles, as he was a gentile
himself. We don't know if his wife was also an Edomite, but it is possible. Obadiah's
name means "servant/worshipper of Yahweh." Obadiah is also the term
used for someone who served and he served under King Ahab. He was a rich man as
well and when Jezebel wanted to kill all of the prophets, he hid them and
became known for hiding the hundred prophets. He hid them in two caves so if
one cave of prophets was found, the others could escape. Because he protected
the men of God, he was anointed as a prophet. He took care of the poor men
until he became poor himself. He had borrowed from the king to continue to
support the prophets. It is said that his faith was one degree higher than
Abraham. Because of this, Ahab's house was likely blessed. By the time he died,
King Ahab's son was now king, King Jehoram (the 9th king of Israel) and he
wanted to collect on Obadiah's debt. Obadiah
died in Samaria where the Kingdom of Israel was located.
Now we can jump back to our
story. Elisha, who was serving as a prophet, probably knew Obadiah, or knew of
him. This could be why the widow cried out to him (2 Kings 4:1). We don’t know
how old she was, but she was young enough to have had young sons. Since her
prophet husband serve King Ahab, they likely stayed near Betharam or Beth Haram,
located in the valley-plain, east of the Jordan River. This was part of King
Ahab’s territory. We don’t know much about her faith because in this verse, she
speaks of her husband’s fear of the Lord, not her own. Like any minister’s wife
who is in this predicament, there’s probably some frustration behind her fear
as to why her husband would put them in this situation. Maybe causing her some
doubt of her own, but none the less, she asks Elisha for help. She’s ready to
obey whatever he suggests. She had probably observed her husband’s obedience to
the Lord and now it was her turn. More often than not, hitting rock bottom
leads us straight to God. This is a good reminder that even prophets, men of
God, were not exempt from harm and debt.
When Elisha
asks what he can do for her, she responds with, “’Your
maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.’” (2
Kings 4:2, NKJV). We often think of cooking oil or lamp oil, but in this case,
because Obadiah was a prophet, it could have been anointing oil which was a great
commodity. Anointing oil was precious as it was used for ceremonial purposes. Elisha
says to her, “Go, borrow vessels from
everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 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.” (2 Kings
4:3-4, NKJV)
The sons do as Elisha says, they go door to door and
collected every jar available. We don’t know how old her sons were. Obviously,
they were not considered adults as they still lived with her. There could have
been young teenage men who were a great help to her. Losing them would have been
a great loss, not only because they were her children, but in those days, they
would have taken care of her later on.
The sons collected the jars in the village and brought them
to their mother. Once they had every empty jar, the widow did as she was told, she
shut the door behind them. This is such an important part to this passage. God
does His best work in the secret places. As the Psalmist describes God’s best
work if a life being formed in the womb, a secret place in which no one except
God is allowed (Psalm 139:13). If we look at this in a spiritual sense, shutting
the door, she closed the door on the enemy’s plans to ruin her and her sons
lives.
It is there in the security and familiarity of her home,
that she and her sons witness this miracle. As she stands over the first jar, she
begins to pour her way out of being poor. Can you imagine the silence in the
room as she filling the first jar and it fills to the brim? Quickly, she calls
to her son for the second jar and it fills. Surely the excitement filled the
room as she poured until every jar was full. Her faith and obedience to listen
to instruction and follow it through was the currency that paid for this
incredible miracle.
After every jar is filled, she tells Elisha and he tells her
to, “’Go, sell the oil and pay your debt;
and you and your sons live on
the rest.’” (2 Kings 4:7, NKJV) It is likely she sells the oil back to the same
people she borrowed the jars from. They now were recipients of her miracle and
now their homes were filled with the blessing of this oil.
This is a picture of what it is to go into the all the world
by sharing the good news of Jesus. You may not be one to go door to door, but
there are people you interact with on a daily basis that need to know Jesus and
be filled with His Spirit. Second Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing
power belongs to God and not to us.” The jars are a representation of people.
The treasure we carry is the Holy Spirit. When we allow Him to do the work in
us, He is poured out of us into others. Even when we think we only have a
little to share, because of Him, it can go a long way.
Generations later from this miraculous event, Jesus does a miracle,
his first miracle, with the contents in jars of stone at a wedding when the
host runs out of wine (John 2:1-11). He tells the servants to collect the six
stone water pots that were used for purification and he tells them to fill the
pots to the brim with water. Once again, we see that in the secret place inside
the pot, as the water was transformed into wine, and not just any wine—the
best! This is what the Holy Spirit does with us when we allow His holiness to
purify us. Our unholiness, like grapes, is crushed and pressed into something
that becomes holy. We begin to transform into someone completely different. This
is the miracle of miracles!
As we reflect on the outcome of this story, this is why we should
not panic and worry. Instead, as we continue to see throughout the scripture,
trusting and obeying is the only way to overcome any circumstance or crisis. By
being willing to listen and submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit, as well as
wise counsel, we can expect miracles daily.
Something in the final statement that Elisha says, sell the
oil, pay your debt and live on the rest, the rest can be interpreted as well as
“rest in God.” We don’t have to worry or be afraid when we put our trust in
Him, our weary souls can rest. “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour
out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:8, NLT)
We live in desperate times, that is for sure, but we don’t
to take desperate measures. Because of Jesus, we can live confidently because
Jesus is our hope. “May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NIV)
Promises
to pour into an empty soul!
Deuteronomy
16:17, NKJV: Every man shall give as he is able, according
to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.
Deuteronomy
28:1, NKJV: “Now it shall come to
pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe
carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your
God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”
Psalm
23:5, NIV: You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head
with oil; my cup overflows.
Proverbs
3:5-6, NKJV: Trust in the LORD
with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Isaiah
41:13, NIV: For I am the LORD
your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will
help you.
Isaiah
45:3, NIV: I will give you
hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I
am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Luke
12:34, NKJV: For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2
Corinthians 1:4, NLT: He
comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are
troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
*This information was complied by the R.E.A.L. Women Bible study out of Hills Church in Laguna Hills, CA.
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