One of the great themes found over & over in the Bible is that regardless of the times in which people lived & the problems they faced there was no problem or need which God could not meet if they simply trusted & obeyed Him. I call to your attention the key verse from last week’s story in which God declared through the prophet, Elisha – 3:18a “for this is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord.” There was a great need. A need which if not met would have resulted in massive deaths - for 3 kings & their respected armies would have died of thirst out in the middle of the desert. There was a great need, one which man could not solve. Those 3 kings were powerless; their generals were powerless to fix the problem. It was beyond them.
But enter the scene – God & everything changed. The problem which was unsolvable was solved. The need which could not be met was met. And that which was impossible for man to do anything about was “an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord.” Let me encourage you to keep that verse foremost in your heart for the enemy will try to convince you otherwise.
Now what is encouraging in our story today is – last week we were dealing w/ kings & armies. One would expect God to be interested & involved in something like that. After all, it has tremendous ramifications whether a country, particularly Israel, wins or loses a war. So it was no surprise to read of God being involved & meeting their great need. But today we’re not dealing w/ kings & armies & war but w/ a nondescript widow & her 2 sons who were faced w/ their own impossible situation. There would be no great negative ramifications if this widow died & her sons were sold into slavery. Their situation is not important especially when compared w/ kings & armies. And yet we see today in this story God is no less interested & involved in her situation as He was w/ kings & armies.
The Bible tells us, “Cast your cares upon Him for it matters to Him about you.” That is true of kings & armies & great battles but also of nondescript widows. God cares for His people & He works in sovereign & mighty ways that frequently extend far beyond that which we are able to do or think. And so no matter which kind of situation you are talking about God delights in continually showing Himself to be the Great & Faithful Provider.
Provider – one who supplies what is needed for sustenance or support.
God was the great provider for 3 kings & their armies last week. This week He will be the Great Provider for a widow & her 2 sons, supplying what is needed for their sustenance & support.
4:1 – “now a certain widow of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha.” Though she is not identified in the text & was not on the “who’s who” list of Israel’s prominent people (as most of us are not), the principle is she was not unknown to God. Each 1 of us are personally known & loved by God; we are the personal objects of His love. In the Lord’s sight, the individual is never lost sight of in the crowd.
But this woman, a wife of 1 of the sons of the prophets or to modernize it - a wife of 1 of the seminary students found herself unexpectedly widowed w/ 2 children to take care of. On top of that, there was a debt her husband owed that was now due. Quite possibly whatever she had that was sellable had been sold although these men lived quite sparsely so there was probably not much to sell to begin w/. And so now she, on top of mourning the death of her husband, is faced w/ the reality to giving her children to be slaves in order to pay the debt.
The OT law read, "If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you & sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave. He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then he & his children are to be released, & he will go back to his own clan & to the property of his forefathers. Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God" (Leviticus 25:39-43). What this meant was that the widow’s sons were to be taken until they could work off the debt of their dead father or until the Year of Jubilee. If a relative should later step forward & pay off the debt, the sons could be redeemed at that moment. The normal time of service was 6 years; then they were free to leave but not empty-handed. They were to be given ample provisions as the Lord had blessed the employer so that they would not begin their state of new freedom in destitution. (see Deuteronomy 15:12-15) Not a bad system. But still you can try to imagine the heartache of this woman of losing her husband & now her 2 children.
But God knows & loves widows. When the Law of Israel was written he clearly stated Israel’s responsibility toward widows & what he said crossed right over into the NT church. God declares that he is a Father to the fatherless & a Judge for the widows (see Deuteronomy 10:18; Psalm 68:5). God promises to avenge those who slay the widow & the orphan or deal w/ them unjustly (see Psalm 94:6-7, 23; Ezekiel 22:7, 13-14; Malachi 3:5; Isaiah 10:1-4).
But here was this widow faced w/ a heart-wrenching decision. She was at wit’s end. She had no resources w/ which to meet the situation. She could not pay her debt; & she could not silence the demands of the creditor. The time when she could be together w/ her children was drawing to a close.
So she comes & appeals to the prophet Elisha. Though her appeal here was ultimately to the Lord, she sought help through Elisha. Her appeal was based on two facts:
#1 - as one of the sons of the prophets, her husband had been a servant & student of Elisha, and
#2 her husband had lived his life in the fear & reverence of the Lord.
Let me just interject here; there is no guarantee that godly people will not suffer sudden & unexpected loss of life & positions. There is not a guarantee that they & their family will not encounter serious need. In fact, Satan goes out of his way to see that godly people often have a hard time. He hopes that by this treatment they will be tempted to rebel against God. The story of Job & his sufferings illustrate the devil’s hatred against godly people.
Elisha responds to her. What we see here is that Elisha was as available to a poor widow woman just as he was w/ kings. As God shows no favoritism, but treats all men alike if they will come to Him in faith, so the people of God should show no favoritism & be just as available to minister to the poor as to the rich & the powerful.
4:2a – In my opinion I think Elisha is asking a rhetorical type question such as, “Let me see now; what can I do for you?” Then it seems to come to him: “What do you have in the house?” And she replies, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”
“Nothing but a jar or flask of oil. Umm...” And I can’t help but think that a little bell went off in Elisha’s mind reminding him of when his mentor, Elijah, encountered a widow in desperate straits. All she had was a little bowl of flour & oil but through Elijah, God told that widow, “Don’t be afraid....For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ’The jar of flour will not be used up & the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land’"
And so an idea comes to his mind, an idea sanctioned by the Lord. Thus he instructs her (vv.3-4), “Go around & ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside & shut the door behind you & your sons. Pour the oil into all the jars, & as each is filled, put it to one side."
And so she & her sons begin to collect empty jars. Now I don’t know about you but I would have loved to have heard some of those conversations as she asked neighbors for empty jars.
“What do you want empty jars for?”
“Well, you’re not going to believe this but I have a little flask of oil & by the command of Elisha, the prophet of God, I am going to start pouring the oil out of that little flask into these jars until they’re all full.”
Now I don’t know what kind of response she received, but remember this was during a time of great apostasy not devotion to God so I can kind of hear the doubting even sneering comments. But she was not deterred.
She collects the vessels, comes into her house, closes the door & then can you imagine the anticipation & excitement as she begins to pour the oil, especially into that first jar? Is this going to work or not? Probably kept peering into that little flask. Slowly the jar fills all the way up & then she says, “Boys, bring me another one.” And it would seem to me that w/ each additional jar their eyes got bigger & bigger. As 1 jar filled up you can almost hear w/ excitement 1 of the sons saying, “Mamma, here’s another one!” And then, “Mamma, here’s another one.” And the oil just kept flowing. There was more excitement among those sons than on Christmas morning.
And in this private & might I suggest, holy moment she & her sons would learn that God would supply their needs & thus encourage them to even greater faith in his sovereign & loving provision.
“Son, bring me another one.” “There aren’t any more, mamma. Every one is full!” Can you see them looking around the house at all the jars, each full of oil? What a moment that must have been.
Elisha had said, "Pour oil into all the jars, & as each is filled, put it to one side." They did as they were told until they ran out---not of oil but of jars. At that moment the oil stopped flowing.
Please take note: since God was supplying the oil, the limitation was not in the supply of oil but in the lack of any more empty vessels to be filled.
4:7 – She comes & tells Elisha & he tells her to go sell the oil [oil was a very important commodity in that culture] go sell the oil, pay off your debt first & then live off the rest.
Oil was a very important commodity in that culture. It was used as a cosmetic, medicine, food, as a source of light, in religious rites, & as a commodity of exchange.
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Olive oil was one of the most important products in the economy of Palestine and in the daily life of the people. It became a symbol of peace and prosperity (Jer. 31:12), and was looked upon as a blessing from God
“Go and sell the oil…” God, the great & faithful provider.
I said earlier in that private & holy moment she & her sons learned that God would supply their needs & thus encourage them to even greater faith in his sovereign & loving provision. I have had similar holy moments. I don’t know any other way to describe them. They were holy moments & all I could do was bow my head in awe, reverence & thankfulness & say, “Thank you, Father. Praise Your holy name.”
I am a first hand witness of the greatness of God in providing for His children. I could take the rest of the day to recount how God provides for needs. There have been so many ways down through the years. It has simply been amazing.
I am a blessed man. I have laid my life & my family’s before the Lord. I continually lay my needs before Him & time & time & time again He meets each one in ways that leave me humbled by His great care for me & my family.
God, the great & faithful provider. Now maybe He has not meet your needs in the way you wished or imagined. Maybe He has not met your needs to the extent or abundance you wanted, but has He provided? Has He provided?
This family lived in the reverence of God & God supplied. Seek ye first the kingdom of God & His righteousness & all these things will be added unto you.
And 1 of the principles seen here is that God used what she did have to provide what she didn’t have.
God could have simply provided her w/ gallons & gallons of olive oil. That would not have been a problem for God. Elisha could have said “Go home & there will be more Olive Oil then you can ever use.” But he didn’t. God wanted to see faith in action. If she believed this word from God, then she must act in obedience to “do her part.”
Very often, we pray for a situation to change. We want God to solve our problem, but we are not willing to do as God says. Through His Word, we receive certain instructions - some things we need to do or change, but we are unwilling to obey. And therefore we fail to experience the miracle/provision/solution that God has planned for us. This widow needed to put faith in action or else there would have been no miracle.
What is your need today? I know our focus this morning has been on financial needs, but what is your need? We have been focusing these 3 weeks on the great ability of our God. We have seen:
• He is the God who can change that which is unchangeable – be it a person or a situation.
• He is the God who states that it is an easy thing in His eyes to meet whatever your need, your situation is.
• Today we have seen him as the great & faithful provider.
Maybe God is trying to drive home a point in these 3 stories. “Come to Me, ask, seek, trust Me for that person, that situation, that need for I am the great & all powerful God & there is so much I want to do in you & for you. Live before Me in reverence & fear & ask for I am the Lord God Almighty, there is nothing to difficult for Me & do what I instruct you to do.”
God Will Make a Way
God will make a way when there seems to be no way.
He works in ways we cannot see,
He will make a way for me.
He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side.
With love and strength for each new day.
He will make a way,
He will make a way.
