God's Power to Meet the Desperate Needs of His People
2 King 4:1-44
Circumstances, How to Conquer Crises. Circumstances sometimes arise that create a sense of desperation. Take death, for example. We have no control over death. Consequently, when a loved one is snatched from our presence—whether child, parent, or some other close friend—a sense of helplessness grips us. A deep, agonizing void fills the human heart, an emptiness that is sometimes almost unbearable.
When a person loses everything he or she has financially or materially, becoming destitute and perhaps unemployed, the same sense of desperation grips the human heart. An intense stress afflicts the mind and heart, provoking the person to question: "What am I to do? How can I live with no money and no job to earn a living?"
Almost any human activity can create moments of desperation for us: eating can cause choking; swimming can end in drowning; and the home or workplace or even the playground may be the site of a serious injury. A serious crisis can occur in almost any place at any time, creating an urgent need in the life of any one of us.
1. (4:1-7) Miracle of— Widow, Poor, Needs Met: the first miracle was a very special case, that of a poor widow's oil being miraculously multiplied. Note the desperate condition of this poverty-stricken widow.
1. The widow faced a severe and urgent crisis. Her husband, a prophet, had died and left her with heavy debt (2 Kings 4:1-2). She was destitute, having no money whatsoever to pay off the debts nor to meet payments demanded by the creditors. As a result, the creditors were threatening to enslave her two sons. Ancient Jewish law demanded that debt be paid off by labor if a person could not pay his creditor. The debtor was to become a servant, a worker for his creditor, but never a slave. Furthermore, the creditor was to treat the debtor as a worker, not as a slave. However, as is so often the case, the law of God was abused and some creditors within Jewish society apparently enslaved others who owed them money. Apparently, this was the case with the widow and her two sons. Note that she was utterly destitute, without any food or supplies whatsoever. All she had was a little olive oil that could be used for cooking or perhaps heating.
2. In seeking for a way to solve her critical problem, the widow did the only thing she could: she sought the counsel of the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:2-5). Note the five steps she took and how the very same steps can apply to any widow or any individual who is facing a serious crisis:
a. In desperation the widow went to the prophet Elisha to appeal for help (2 Kings 4:1-2). As simply as she could, she explained her circumstances, how desperately she needed help to pay off her debts and to keep her boys from being enslaved by the creditor. She informed Elisha that she was destitute, with no means whatsoever to pay off the debts, nothing except a little oil.
b. With a heart full of compassion, the prophet told her to seek the help of her neighbors (2 Kings 4:3). She was to go around to all her neighbors and borrow all the jars they would lend her. She was not to ask for just a few jars, but for many, just as many as they would lend.
c. She and her sons were then to seek privacy, get all alone by going inside their home and shutting the door behind them (2 Kings 4:4). Whatever miracle took place was to be to the glory of God. The miracle of meeting her need was not to attract attention to her, not to point to her as a super-spiritual person, but rather to honor God. Out of a heart of compassion, God would be meeting her need. But He and He alone was to be praised, for He and He alone could meet her need.
d. Once inside her home, the widow was to begin working, personally doing all she could (2 Kings 4:4). She was to take the little oil she had and begin to pour it in the jars she had borrowed. She was to continue to pour until each jar was completely full and to continue pouring until all the jars were full.
e. If the widow believed Elisha, she would do exactly as he instructed, trusting God to meet the need (2 Kings 4:5). Just imagine the great faith this took: to take the little bit of oil she had in a small jar and to begin to pour it, believing that God would multiply the oil until all the jars were full. But this is exactly what this poor, destitute widow did: she obeyed the prophet and trusted the LORD to multiply the oil enough to fill all the containers she had borrowed.
3. The result was miraculous: the small amount of olive oil was multiplied, filling a large number of jars (2 Kings 4:6-7). Excitedly rushing to the prophet Elisha, she explained just what had happened. There was not a jar left that was not full and overflowing with oil. Hearing this, Elisha instructed the woman to go and sell the oil to pay off her debts and to save her sons from enslavement. Note how much the oil had been multiplied: not only enough for her to pay off her debts, but also enough to meet the living expenses for her and her sons for the rest of their lives (2 Kings 4:7).
The lesson for us is simple and straightforward: widows and widowers can look to God to have their needs met. No matter what need a widow or widower is facing, God's heart is full of compassion and reaches out to meet that need. Just like this widow in Scripture, if the need is financial, God wants to help meet the need for money. If the crisis is loneliness, lack of companionship, insecurity, disobedient or rebellious children, poverty, lack of food, clothing, or housing, unemployment, or a job that pays too little—whatever the need is, God's heart reaches out in compassion for the widow or widower. And He wants to help meet the need.
But there is a condition: the same five steps taken by this widow should be taken by any widow or widower facing a grave need:
⇒ that of informing a true minister of the gospel and seeking his counsel
⇒ that of seeking the help of neighbors, humbly asking for assistance
⇒ that of seeking privacy in the sense of giving the glory to God and not pointing to oneself as being super spiritual or deserving of help
⇒ that of working personally to solve the problem
⇒ that of following the counsel and advice of the minister and trusting God to help meet the need
In each of these five steps the widow or widower must take the initiative. The person following these steps and trusting God will be helped.
2. (4:8-37) Raised— Faith, Kinds of, Persistent: there was the Shunammite's son who was miraculously restored to life. This is a clear demonstration of God's power to give life and to raise the dead. Exactly what happened is dramatically pictured by Scripture.
1. Note the Shunammite woman's hospitality to Elisha on one of his trips to her city (2 Kings 4:8-10). While ministering there, she invited the prophet to join her and her family for a meal. He accepted her kindness, and a close bond of friendship was developed between him and her family. As a result, she left an open invitation for him to stop by anytime he was passing through their city, and this was quite often. For Elisha frequently passed through Shunem as he traveled to Jezreel and other cities in the surrounding area of Israel. His visits became so frequent that the Shunammite woman encouraged her husband to add a room to their house where Elisha could stay when he needed overnight accommodations.
2. Note the Shunammite woman's wonderful reward for her kindness and hospitality shown to Elisha (2 Kings 4:11-17). Because of her generosity, Elisha wanted to do something very special for her. Sending his servant to summon her, he asked if he could request a special political or legal favor from the king for her? Or, knowing that her husband was quite aged, could he perhaps request a special military guard from the army commander to protect her?
Graciously the woman declined, informing Elisha that she had no special needs, for she lived among her relatives and both they and her neighbors were caring. With the issue settled in the woman's mind, she left Elisha and returned to her household duties.
But soon after leaving, Elisha turned to his servant and asked for a gift suggestion from him (2 Kings 4:14). The servant replied that the woman was childless and her husband was very elderly, so she probably would never have children. Immediately Elisha summoned the childless woman and promised that God would give her a child within one year (2 Kings 4:15-17). Standing in the doorway, the woman was utterly shocked, but no doubt flooded with a sense of excitement. Nevertheless, she objected to Elisha's promise because she feared disappointment, a broken heart. She objected, asking for Elisha not to mislead her, not to break her heart with such a promise. But she soon became pregnant and bore a son just as Elisha had promised.
3. However, some years later the woman's heart was to be broken with an overwhelming sorrow (2 Kings 4:18-24). The child suffered a violent headache while he was out playing in the fields where his father was working. Immediately the father put the child in the arms of a servant and instructed him to carry the child home to his mother. All morning the mother tenderly held the child in her lap, but he died at noon (2 Kings 4:20). In faith, trusting God with all her heart, she kept the child's death a secret. Taking him upstairs to Elisha's room, she laid the child on the prophet's bed. As quickly as she could, she asked her husband for a servant and donkey so she could make a quick visit to Elisha. Somewhat perplexed, the husband asked why she needed to make the visit since it was not a religious holiday. Obviously, she gave assurance that it was a spiritual matter that needed to be handled immediately, for he gave her permission to make the quick trip. As rapidly as she could, she rushed to Elisha, the prophet of God, from whom she would seek help in her desperate and helpless hour of need.
4. The woman's faith in God and in His prophet Elisha was apparently unlimited (2 Kings 4:24-31). The mother rushed to Mt. Carmel where Elisha lived. Spotting her off in the distance rushing toward him, Elisha sent his servant to meet and greet her. But she refused to be delayed by conversation with the servant (2 Kings 4:25-26). As soon as she reached Elisha, she quickly slipped off her donkey and rushed up to him, kneeling to the ground and grabbing his feet (2 Kings 4:27). Gehazi rushed over to push her away, but Elisha stopped him. For he sensed the mother's bitter grief and sorrow. Pouring out her soul to Elisha, she expressed that her pain was worse than having no child at all. In fact, when Elisha had promised the child, she had asked him not to raise her hopes (2 Kings 4:28).
Without even taking time to respond to his dear friend, Elisha turned to his servant Gehazi and instructed him to rush to the boy. Reaching the boy as soon as possible was critical. The servant was to allow no one to interfere with his journey, not even for greeting a passerby. Once reaching the boy, the servant was to lay Elisha's staff on the dead child's face (2 Kings 4:29).
But the mother refused to leave unless Elisha himself went back with her (2 Kings 4:30). Note her persistent faith: her faith was in the LORD and in His prophet, not in the prophet's servant. Filled with persistent faith, she swore, taking an oath before the LORD that she would not leave Elisha unless he went back with her. Filled with compassion for this dear mother, Elisha arose and followed her to the home he had visited so often, the home where death now ruled.
Rushing on ahead, the servant Gehazi reached the dead child and laid the staff on the boy's face. But there was no response. The boy was not restored to life. So the servant rushed back to meet Elisha and the boy's mother to report what had happened.
5. Now note the miraculous reward of the woman's persistent faith (2 Kings 4:32-37). Finally arriving at the home, Elisha found the boy lying on the bed in the room that had been prepared for the prophet's visits. Shutting the door, the prophet began to pray to the LORD. At some point he stretched his body out upon the boy face-to-face, and the dead child's body began to grow warm (2 Kings 4:33-34). Getting up off the child, Elisha began to pace the floor, continuing to pray (2 Kings 4:35). Then once again he stretched out his body upon the boy. Immediately the boy sneezed seven times, and God revived the dead child. At that point, Elisha instructed his servant to summon the woman (2 Kings 4:36-37). As she entered the room, her first sight was of Elisha holding the child in his arms; then she heard the prophet instruct her to take the child. But this she did not do. Rushing toward the prophet and her son, she fell at Elisha's feet and bowed to the ground showing gratitude and worship to the LORD. Before long she arose and tenderly took her son into her arms. She then went out to spend some precious moments with the son who had been raised from the dead and given life by the power of God (2 Kings 4:36-37).
3. (4:38-44) Needs, Met and Provided for, by God: there were the prophets being miraculously fed. In these two miracles, God's power to meet the needs of His people was clearly demonstrated.
1. A bad and poisonous stew was miraculously purified by God through His prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:38-41). During a famine, Elisha visited the school of prophets at Gilgal (2 Kings 4:38). Noticing how hungry some of the students seemed to be, he instructed his servant to prepare a large pot of stew and cook it for the prophets. In obedience to Elisha's instructions, the servant went out to gather some vegetables and ran across a wild vine from which he picked some gourds. When he returned back to the school, he sliced the gourds into the stew, although no one knew exactly what they were.
As the students began to taste the stew, they immediately knew it was poisonous and informed Elisha (2 Kings 4:40). Trusting the provision of the LORD, Elisha calmly instructed them to add some flour or meal to the stew and then re-serve it. Miraculously, the LORD purified the poisonous stew and the students were able to eat it.
2. On another occasion a hundred prophets were miraculously fed (2 Kings 4:42-44). An unknown believer brought food supplies to the school, including 20 loaves of baked bread and some fresh grain (2 Kings 4:42). Immediately Elisha ordered the food distributed; but his servant protested, questioning how so little food could be used to feed 100 young men (2 Kings 4:42-43). Assuring the servant that the LORD would fulfill His promise to meet the needs of His people, Elisha instructed the servant to begin to pass out the food to the people. The servant obeyed and all the prophets had not only enough food to eat, but they had some left over. The promise of the LORD was fulfilled: the food was multiplied just as the five loaves of bread and two fish were to be multiplied by Christ in feeding the multitude (Matthew 14:13-21)
God has the power to meet the basic needs of human life. In the case of the students, He met the basic need for food. God possesses omnipotent, unlimited power, the power to meet any and every need. Whatever need may confront us, God can meet it. And if God has the power to meet all needs, He will surely meet the basic needs of human life:
⇒ the need for food, shelter, and clothing
⇒ the need for purpose, meaning, and significance in life
⇒ the need for a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction
⇒ the need for conquering the trials and temptations of life
⇒ the need for either health or the strength to bear the sufferings, pain, and infirmities of life
God has the power to meet our needs. But there is a condition: we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We must love—truly love—the LORD, obeying His commandments and faithfully worshipping Him. And we must strengthen our relationship, our daily walk with the LORD, taking care of our bodies, which are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is the clear declaration of God's Holy Word:
