Last week we studied about the importance of listening to the voice of God, and moving towards His will. We learned that when we are willing to listen and do His will, we will receive the blessings that He has stored for us. We learned that we must trust Him in all things, and that we must not allow our faith to falter or fail. But the sad reality is that the faith of many believers does falter, and sadly enough, does fail on many occasions. The main reason for this is that many believers do not trust God completely. Many believers are not convinced that God can, and will resolve any situation in their favor. In other words, many believers doubt that God is attentive to their needs. The problem is that the end result of this doubtful attitude is always the same. The end result is that once a difficult situation arises, or when confronted with a problem, the faith of the person will fail, and that person will be blinded to the blessings of God. Let’s now turn to 2 Kings Chapter 4:1-7 to learn the message that God has for us today.
2 Kings 4:1-7 - Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.2And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. 3Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
Now, this first verse sets the tone to our story. I say that it sets the tone because it clearly lets us know the state of mind of this woman. Look carefully at her words; she said “Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.” If we were to just read this, we would probably miss the pain and suffering reflected in her statement. But when we take the time to analyze her statement, we quickly realize that she was desperate. The reason for this desperation was because her husband had died. This perhaps does not have the same meaning today as it did back then. Now, let me stop here and clarify something, I do not want to be misunderstood. I am not saying that the death of a spouse is not important; the death of a spouse will always cause sorrow. What I am saying is that in our days, it is much easier for the surviving spouse to continue living without much difficulty. But this was not the case back then. In those times the husband was the principal provider for the family. Therefore, the death of her husband meant that she and her family would now find themselves alone; they would now have to fend for themselves. But as if that alone was not enough, we see that the creditor was coming to take away her only two means of support. She said “the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.” But what does this mean? In order to comprehend this we need to understand the way things worked back then.
Back in that time, very much like today, people did not have the money to pay for certain things; therefore, people would buy on credit. But unlike today that when we are not able to make a payment all we do is pay interest charges, in those days, those who could not pay the creditor, the creditor could legally take possession of their sons and make them slaves. So let’s imagine this woman’s pain, her husband, the provider, died. Her sons were about to be turned into slaves to pay the families debts. She was in a state of panic, her world was crumbling. Everything that she had was shattering to pieces. Now I ask; how many of us have been through a similar situation? How many of us are suffering or going through very difficult times? Desperate and suffering because we are faced with problems or situations that seem impossible to defeat. When we read between the lines, we quickly see that the way she was speaking to Elisha reflects that her faith in God was slaking; by the tone of her conversation we quickly note that her faith in God was weak. I am sure that she, as well as many people today when faced with similar situations, was asking herself, how can all of this be? She was saying my husband was a man of God, he was a good husband, he was a good father, and how could God just take him away like this? Her faith was defeated. She was doubtful, of God, she was desperate and in a state of panic, and look at how the prophet answered her.
"And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil." I am sure that this was not what she wanted to hear. I am sure that the first part of his response was something that left her a little shocked. I am sure that to this woman the first part of Elisha’s answer must have seemed uncaring and cold; it was almost like what many say today when we tell them about a particular situation and they say, that’s your problem. But in Elisha’s answer what we truly find is that he knew that this woman’s faith had been defeated. He knew this and that is why he said "What shall I do for thee?" In other words, he wanted her to realize that her answer did not lie in the hands of a man, her answer laid in the hands of God. Elisha knew that there was nothing he could do, and he wanted to have her regain her focus in God. If we analyze this situation, we will quickly realize that there are many today that are just like this woman. There are many today that depend on the help of men to relieve their suffering. There are many today who look to men for answers, when in all actuality they should be looking to the Lord. Just like in the case of this woman, their faith has failed them. But like I said, Elisha wanted her to regain her focus on God. Elisha knew that only God could take away her pain; let’s continue to analyze the scripture so that you see what I am talking about.
When we read this verse again we see that she answered him by saying "Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil." Can you see her defeated attitude? She said she had nothing! But in reality this was not the case, she had a pot of oil. Tell the brother next to you, she had a pot of oil. And, what is a pot of oil? Simply put, a pot of oil is a blessing from God. Brethren all that we have and posses are blessings from God. But the problem is that on many occasions we do not know how to appreciate everything that God gives us; we do not appreciate or value what we have. But we must remember that God does not want us to take anything for granted; that which you might think insignificant or take for granted may be a great blessing from the Lord, as was the case with this simple pot of oil. Look at what happened next.
"Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few." Here we see that Elisha again did something that probably perplexed this woman; Elisha asked her to borrow pots from her neighbors. I say that this is something that left her perplexed because this woman was already in debt. This woman was about to loose her two sons into slavery because she could not pay her creditors, but now Elisha was apparently asking her to borrow more. Elisha was apparently asking her to become deeper in debt. Let us look at this carefully because at first glance this does not appear to make any sense. But when we meditate in his request we realize that Elisha was not telling her to go to the creditors to borrow more, he did not tell her to get deeper in debt, what he told her to do was to look around herself, and to use the resources that God had provided. He did not tell her to borrow from the creditors, he told her to borrow from those that could help her without interest. The problem was that she was so afflicted that she could not see all of the riches that surrounded her; riches that God had provided her. What am I talking about? The same as us today, she had neighbors and family that would help her. In a time of need, a good friend or a loving family member is much more important and valuable than all the riches in the world. But, when our faith fails us and we succumb to the difficulty, the devil will blind us to this fact. The devil will sneak into our life to do his evil deed.
The devil wants to afflict us, he wants to sour our life, he wants to defeat us and destroy our faith. He wants us to think that God does not care about our problems and our difficulties; he wants us to think that we are alone, but of course none of this is true. The Lord tells us in John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
God will never abandon us and God will never ignore our problems or difficulties, that is, as long as we continue to have faith, as long as our faith does not falter. But our adversary is very potent, and he knows that if he divides us from our faith, then he has won the battle. It is very important for us to realize that if we allow ourselves to be divided from God’s resources, then the battle will have been lost. Satan knows very well that saying "divide and conquer." We can not allow him to divide us from our God. Continuing with our study we see that Elisha said "borrow not a few." This little statement lets us know that God knew exactly how many pots she would need. God knew exactly who she would be able to turn to in this hour of need. Now look at the instructions that she received.
"And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full." "Shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons." Close the door behind you. Tell the brother next to you, close the door behind you. This woman went door to door seeking help from her neighbors. Can you imagine all of the things that she probably heard? I am talking about things like, I am so sorry to hear about your husband’s death; something that would only make her vividly recount the entire memory. I am talking about things like, please come in and sit down and let me know how you are doing; something that would make her focus on the preoccupations she had. These are questions that she probably heard, and are questions that only served to augment her anguish. In many occasions, people, while attempting to comfort a person do more harm than good. I say that people do more harm than good because often times, although very well intended, all that many do is force people to relive their moments of torment or anguish.
In all reality, this woman did not know what was going to happen, but she was employing the little faith that she had to do as the prophet had told her. Elisha had planted the seed of faith, and it was growing. But the devil, our adversary was trying to destroy that seed before it could grow roots. The devils was trying to destroy that seed before it could grow roots because he knows that if he can do it at that stage, then he has very little to worry about. He knows that it is easier to destroy a seed, than it is to try to uproot a tree that has deep and strong roots. "Shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons,” Elisha was telling her to close the door behind all of her problems. Elisha was telling her to close the door to all afflictions. Elisha was telling her to close the door behind all thoughts or doubts. Elisha was telling her to close the door to the world and to enter in communion with God. Tell the brother next to you, close the door behind you. We have to close the door to the devil, and enter in communion with God. When we close the door to the devil and enter in communion with God, we will see the impossible become a reality. When we close the door to the devil and enter in communion the God, we will see miracles in our life. Remember that there is nothing impossible for God. Look at what happened next.
"So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.” What happened here? She closed the door. Tell the brother next to you, she closed the door. She closed the door and her faith was restored. This is something that we all need to seek; we need to seek that our faith be fortified and that our faith be restored. We need to seek this because as the word tells us in Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." And what is faith? The definition is found in Hebrews 11:1 when we read "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Now you must examine yourself and ask, how has my faith been affected by the circumstances that surround me? You must ask yourself, has my faith been affected so that I can no longer see the hand of God in my life? These are two very tough questions, and they are questions that only you can answer. This woman’s faith had truly been impacted; the situations and circumstances that surrounded her had taken their toll, but when her faith was restored a miracle happened.
Look carefully at what happened, the word tells us "So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more." When we started she said she had nothing, she saw herself helpless. When we started she only had a simple pot of oil. But as we see, from a single pot of oil, she filled many. She filled vessels and vessels of oil, she continued filling them all until there were none left. How many can say praise God? Just dare to imagine this, from one simple pot of oil, she filled numerous empty vessels. This is exactly what happens when we follow what God tells us. This is exactly what happens when we close the door to the world, and open our hearts to God. God will fill our needs, and God will provide for us at all times. This is exactly what happens when we close the door to the world and trust God; God will manifest himself and His glory and power will conquer our anguish and difficulties. Look carefully at what happened next and you will be able to see that what I tell you is the truth.
"Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest." She came to Elisha, and she testified as to what God had done, she told him how God had glorified himself in her life. This is something that we must all learn to do; we must testify of His glory; we must testify of His power; we must testify of His mercy; we must testify of His grace. Upon hearing her testimony we find that Elisha told her to go to the market, and to sell the oil to pay her creditors. But there is something here that is of the utmost importance. Brethren God had provided for this woman. God glorified himself in such a way that this woman would no longer have anything to worry about. God had provided in such a way that she would not only be able to pay off her creditors, she has enough left over for her and her sons to live from the profits. This is what happens when we are attentive and obedient to the word of God. God will provide us with an abundant life. Look at how our Lord tells us in John 10:10 when we read "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." The devil will come and try to steal the blessings that God has given you. The devil will try to blind you to the resources that God has placed around you. The devil will try to separate you from the love of God, but remember that he has no power to do this. The word tells us in James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." God provides us the strength and authority to defeat our enemy. God provides for His faithful children, but the key word here if faithful. That is why I say that we must all seek that our faith be strengthened, and seek that our faith be restored.
In conclusion. The Lord tells us in Luke 17:6 "...If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you." Now, many people look at this and take it literally, and think who would want to move a mountain? But, what is a mountain? To the woman in our story the mountains in her life were quite a few. She had no money, her husband and sole provider had died, the creditors were about to enslave her two sons, and more than likely she would wind up in the streets homeless. She was standing in front of these mountains that seemed impassable. Now I ask you, what mountains are you facing? Are you standing in front of a mountain that seems impassable? Are you standing in front of a mountain that appears unmovable? Are you just standing there completely helpless not knowing what to do? If that is the case remember that Elisha was not the one that solved the problems that this woman faced. Elisha was but a vessel that God used to restore this woman’s faith. Elisha was but an instrument that God used to bring His word to this woman. As I said last week, we must be attentive to the word of God, but must of all we must be willing to move or act upon it at all times. This woman heard and acted, and as a reward God provided for all of her needs, immediate and future. I say now, look deep inside you and ask, how strong is my faith? If after examining yourself you find that your faith is not as strong as you would like it to be. If after examining yourself you find that you doubt him in difficult situations, then I say unto you, close the door to the world and enter into communion with God. Seek His face through prayer, and ask him to fertilize that seed of faith.
Preached: January 8, 2006
© Copyright 2006, El Nuevo Pacto
