The Widow’s Oil (2 Kings 4:1-7)
2 Kings 4:1-7
We are entering a unique section in the book of 2 Kings,
Unlike any we have studied in the book thus far.
It is a section that focuses primarily on the ministry of Elisha.
Chapters 4:1 – 6:7 deals primarily with the miracles he worked.
Chapters 6:8 – 8:15 deals primarily with his fulfilled prophesy.
One of the things that is interesting about this section is that
All of the miracles occur for those who are seeking the Lord.
All of the fulfilled prophecies are for those who are not.
That in itself gives us tremendous insight about
The way in which God used miracles in the Old Testament.
The miraculous power of God was manifested to those who trusted Him.
As for those who did not, God gave the demonstration of His fulfilled word.
But none the less we see this interesting segment of Scripture.
The real question for me has been,
WHAT IS GOD TRYING TO SHOW US THROUGH THIS SECTION?
(In fact, I have been racking my brain with that question for several months)
• One could see it merely as a validation of Elisha’s ministry (and it is)
• One could see it as a demonstration of the depravity in Israel (and it is)
• One could see it as individual examples of faith (and it is)
• One could see it as various testimonials to God’s power (and it is)
• One could even see it as prophetic of Jesus’ ministry (and it is)
But to simply stop at any of those
And call it the main reason God included this section in His word
Is to miss the primary reason for why we have it here before us.
It seems to me that it is best to see this section
As a fulfillment of God’s promise to move and work in Israel.
Once again I remind you of the promise that God made to Elijah
After his wilderness Experience.
1 Kings 19:15-18 “The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. “It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
God promised Elijah that He was going to reclaim His supremacy
As the only God of Israel.
Israel had fallen into Baal worship,
And God promised Elijah that Baal would come to an end.
Certainly there are many factors involved in how God would do that,
Most of which we have still yet to see occur in the book.
But aside from actually killing off Baal (which God will do)
God is also at work to strengthen the hearts of those who are His,
And to reveal Himself to those who are not.
That is the purpose for this section.
It reveals part of the fulfillment of God’s promise of revival
Which He made to Elijah.
God is here working in Israel to strengthen the righteous
And to call the wicked.
To the faithful, we see demonstrations of power.
To the wicked, we see fulfilled prophesy.
And this morning we start with a miracle for a widow.
Allow me to just bring three things to light this morning.
#1 THE WIDOW’S CIRCUMSTANCES
2 Kings 4:1-2
There are actually a couple of things I think we need to see about this widow this morning, and the first has to do with her faithfulness.
You will notice the she is “of the wives of the sons of the prophets”
In modern terms we would call her a preacher’s wife.
But just to make sure we don’t overlook the implications,
You must remember that prophets are not all that popular in Israel.
• Elijah was certainly a hunted man.
• Beyond that we remember that Jezebel ordered all of them to be killed.
Remember Obadiah’s ministry?
1 Kings 18:13 “Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, that I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?”
In fact the total number of faithful in Israel was only 7,000
1 Kings 19:18 “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
This was not a day in which the prophets were treated with respect.
They were not routinely invited over for Sunday dinner.
In fact, we will soon see that many of the prophets were starving.
NOW IF YOU COMPROMISED, YOU COULD BE COMFORTABLE
Remember the old lying prophet in Bethel?
But such wasn’t the case for this woman’s husband.
This man had been faithful.
“you know that your servant feared the LORD”
Scripture also indicates that he was FAITHFULLY BOLD prophet,
For his ministry was apparently well known.
“YOU KNOW that your servant feared the LORD”
It is obvious that this woman was married to a godly man,
And also obvious that they had been rejected by the world.
BEYOND THAT, WE SEE HER FINANCIAL STATE:
“the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
If the only thing you have left to sell are your kids, then you are poor.
Remember the man Jesus spoke of?
Matthew 18:23-25 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.”
And verse 2 verifies that fact.
“Your maidservant has noting in the house except a jar of oil.”
• She had no furniture…
• She had no garments…
• She had no food…
Even the widow Elijah ministered to had meal to go with her oil.
This woman did not.
She only had two possessions.
1 was oil, the other was the jar that contained it.
The point being that this woman was poor,
Her poverty was due to the faithfulness of her and her husband.
That then sheds much light on the depravity of Israel as well.
You should know first of all that selling your children into slavery
Was indeed a common practice, and one not forbidden by Mosaic Law.
The Law indicated that you could indeed purchase your Hebrew brother as a slave to settle debts, but that at the end of 6 years he was to go free.
Exodus 21:2 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment.”
And so, it is not a shocking thing
That this woman’s children are about to be sold.
The reason we are able to see depravity here
Is because of the extreme lack of compassion for this widow.
SCRIPTURE CONTINUALLY SPEAKS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPASSION
In fact to be faithful to the legalities of the Law,
But to miss compassion
Renders you the most obvious of hypocrites.
Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees?
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
When the Pharisees chastised Jesus for eating with sinners
He responded by saying:
Matthew 9:12-13 “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The Pharisees claimed to love the Law,
But their lack of compassion revealed a bad heart.
So it is in Elisha’s day.
The creditors had every legal right to take this woman’s children,
But their lack of compassion revealed the depravity.
They had failed to grasp God’s commands in regard to the helpless
(and that is who the widows were in Bible times)
God had much to say in regard to those who were helpless.
God cared for widows.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”
Psalms 68:5 “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.”
Psalms 82:3-4 “Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”
It is obvious that God cared about the plight of the helpless
And had even commanded for others to rescue them from their hardship.
The point was that if the helpless were in need,
You shouldn’t be taking their children,
You ought to be meeting their need.
This is what the Law commanded.
Exodus 22:22-24 “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. “If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”
This is what the prophets commanded.
Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”
If they are in need, then help them out.
Israel revealed their depravity through their lack of compassion.
Here was a widow in need, a faithful widow at that,
And no one was doing a thing to help her.
BUT IT IS NOT JUST THEIR FAILURE TO HELP.
IT IS ALSO THEIR FAILURE TO PROVIDE.
God actually ordained provision for the helpless all throughout the Law.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. “The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”
Every third year, the helpless were actually to be the recipient of the tithe.
That is why Malachi came along and said this:
Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
But the tithe was not all that was there’s.
God also said:
Deuteronomy 24:19-22 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. “When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.”
This widow should have never been in a position of need,
Let alone a position of need with none to help.
God had intended for the helpless to be cared for.
These people reveal their depravity because they did not.
Deuteronomy 27:19 “Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
Hopefully that paints a picture of the circumstances
This widow finds herself in.
That leads to a second point.
First, the widow’s circumstances
#2 THE WIDOW’S CRY
2 Kings 4:1
It is too obvious to point out that this woman trusted God to protect her?
• She didn’t go on the run with her children…
• She didn’t try to hide them…
• She isn’t found begging and pleading with the creditor…
• She has carried her request to God.
She rightly understood that God cares for His own.
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
She has determined to take her dilemma to God (through His prophet)
Instead of seeking deliverance from other source.
And certainly we could learn from such a woman.
REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID?
Matthew 6:25-33 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Her first concern her entire life had not been food and clothing.
Her first concern had been the kingdom of God, and now that she is in desperate need she is going to the One who promises to meet our needs.
GOD PROMISES THE SAME FOR YOU!
Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
If we understand compassion,
How much more do you thing Holy God understands it?
That is why this woman is crying out to Him and not the creditor.
The Widow’s circumstances The Widow’s cry
#3 GOD’S COMPASSION
2 Kings 4:2-7
Now please notice Elisha’s answer.
“What shall I do for you?”
That indicates a couple of things.
• For one, that Elisha may have been poor as well.
• But most importantly, Elisha was revealing that the power for provision was not his, but God’s.
Elisha could not do a thing, but God could.
And God would.
After revealing her jar of oil, Elisha gives a command.
(3) “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few.”
Now obviously this would have been a strange request.
Can you imagine the neighbors response?
Why do you need jars?
What could you possible do with these?
But, true faith reveals itself through true obedience,
And so this woman does exactly what is commanded of her.
She gathers every possible vessel she can get her hands on.
(4) “And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.”
I find this concept quite interesting.
(not the miracle)
“go in and shut the door behind you”
I think it is safe to say that our society is becoming more and more “mystical” in regard to the things of God.
We live in such a “instant gratification” society that people are literally
Craving the ecstatic, the miraculous, and the flamboyant.
Furthermore there seem to be no shortage of mystical magicians out there
Who are willing to give them what they crave for.
But when God works this miracle, He purposely does it in private.
And by the way, we continually saw this from Jesus as well.
Luke 5:14-15 “And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.”
Luke 8:54-56 “He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.”
In fact notice what Jesus did on one occasion:
Mark 1:32-39 “When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.”
Jesus knew that signs and wonders don’t lead people to salvation,
But rather the preaching of the gospel leads men to salvation.
AND HERE GOD IS WORKING HIS MIRACLE IN PRIVATE
This is not a demonstration for validity,
This is not some public spectacle meant to wow the people.
This was very simply God,
Doing what His people should have been doing all along.
He is helping the helpless and doing it privately.
IS THAT NOT WHAT WE ARE COMMANDED TO DO?
Matthew 6:2-4 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
This is not about publicity, this is about compassion.
God is here doing what His people would not.
VERSES 5-7
God multiplied the oil (Elisha wasn’t even there)
But Elisha knew the purpose.
“Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
Not only did God give what she asked for,
But He gave more than she asked for.
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
God is compassionate for His own, even when no one else is.
Psalms 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.”
I know the society we live in today.
It is daily growing more and more cold
To the things and people of God.
And it is certainly true that living a life devoted to God
Can force you to sacrifice the things of the world.
Some of the greatest saints to ever live, were also some of the poorest:
Hebrews 11:37-38 “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”
And because the world treats God’s servants with such hostility,
It is very tempting to not go too far in our service to God.
We fear the loss of all things, and so we don’t surrender all to Jesus.
Learn from this woman.
GOD DOES NOT FORSAKE HIS OWN.
Hebrews 13:5-6 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”
This morning I don’t know what sort of things you are facing.
This world promises all sorts of hardships.
But I do know that if you will humble yourself and seek God,
He will meet your needs.
But you do have to trust Him.
You do have to seek Him.
You do have to obey Him.
Maybe today you are not oppressed in any way,
But you need to open your eyes to those around you
And display the compassion of our great God.
It’s good to tithe mint and dill and cumin,
But don’t neglect the weightier provisions of the Law,
“justice, mercy, and faithfulness”
For God “desires compassion and not a sacrifice.”
This morning determine be the hands and feet of Christ.
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
