GOD'S METHOD OF DELIVERANCE: II KINGS 4: 1-7
Or
AS WE POUR OUT, GOD POURS IN
I. “Now there cried a certain woman of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, ‘your servant, my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two sons away to be his bond-servants.’” In the text, the widow's late husband -- a "son of the prophet," a student in the school that Elijah had set up for preachers, had sinned. In this case his sin was getting too deep in debt. He wasn't working for an earthly wage, in fact, preachers in that day had to mostly be in hiding, because the Word of God was not very well appreciated, but regardless, he still went into debt, and God took him home before he could pay it off, and consequently his wife was left with a bill she nor his sons could afford to pay.
II. Just as now, so it was then, preachers probably didn't make much money, so he borrowed to live and went into debt, thinking that he would have time to pay it off, but God ordained otherwise, and called him home. He borrowed to get by, and consequently, he left his family in deep financial trouble.
III. This true story is also applicable to any situation regarding any need in the life of a servant of the Lord. Now as then, God's people do sin. But we sin “against our nature.” We are "overtaken in a fault" (Gal. 6: 1). We can "fall into the snare of the devil” (I Tim. 3: 7; II Tim. 2: 26). We may sin against our nature, but we do sin. 1 John 1: 8, says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." But, we read that, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I Jhn. 1: 9). Regardless, God’s preacher sinned, but any sin creates problems for us – and not just for us, but also for those closest to us.
IV. The emphasis here is really not so much on the widow’s late preacher-husband and the mistakes he had made, but it is focused on the widow’s need and the need of her sons. Their problem was a financial problem. They needed MONEY. But what is more important here, and I’ve realized this, is that this story is also about how we as Christians are to access God’s blessings for every area of our lives. It is not so much about forgiveness of sin, (which we need daily) but it is more about the method God has provided whereby we can grow in grace and receive the spiritual qualities we need to be more effective in the work of the Lord. It is a story about how we obtain the Godly virtues we all should want as Christians. It is about how we can enhance and develop a Christ-like nature.
V. So these principles are applicable to demonstrate how God will deliver us from any problem and meet any need, and, whether it be a financial need; or the need for deliverance from a medical problem; or protection from a threat of physical harm; or help with a relationship problem, or any other need or problem we might that we might find ourselves in – we learn through this story that God is a Deliverer!
VI. (V 1). We must first remember that all sin is "against God" (Psm. 51:4). At the same time, it must be remembered that many times, God’s children are just victims of circumstance. Through no fault of their own, they are brought into ruinous situations. Situations, it seems that there is no way out of. Jesus verified that truth when He said, “God makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). He said, “In this world you WILL have tribulation…” (John 16:33).
VII. It must also be noted, looking a little ahead to verse 3, that by that time, the widow had seemingly sold everything she had of any value. Maybe she sold the chairs and all the furniture; all her dishes, maybe even her own and her boy's extra clothes, because when asked by the prophet what she had in the house, she said all she had was "a little oil," and yet, the debt was still there. She had tried everything in the natural sense to get out of her situation, and nothing worked.
VIII. But finally, grace brought her to her senses, and she was enabled by that grace to call on God, recognizing Him as her only help, and then to go to Him through his prophet, Elisha. If she would have only started out by calling on God first, she could have saved herself a lot of grief -- but as with all God's people, He will allow us to come into difficult circumstances, so that we might come to the realization that He is to be our only source and He should be our FIRST source! Rather than beating our heads against the wall of the world, He wants us to learn to go to Him first, even if it means we must first fall into much trouble, trials and tribulations.
A. First and foremost, it must be noted again that all sin is "against God" (Psm. 51: 4).
B. This sin – this enormous debt was unmanageable. There was seemingly no earthly answer (V 1)
C. This sin had immediate consequences. The creditors were literally “at the door” (V 1). The sin also had a "ripple effect." It affected the deceased preacher's wife and children (V 1)
D. Sin has severe consequences (V 1) the Psalmist said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psm. 66:18). The prophet of old said, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear you" (Isa. 59:2).
E. The remedy against sin? "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psm. 119: 11). It is God’s Holy Word!
F. Note: The widow was asking for help, not only for herself, but also for others, in this case her sons. So when we pray, it should not be for ourselves alone but also for the sake of others (V 1)
IX. We should go to God alone and God only for our deliverance, with faith in Him (V 1). The widow finally went to God as her only source.
A. Don't plead our own ability or strength (V 1). The widow realized this problem was too big for her or her boys to conquer. They needed help of a heavenly kind. And they got it.
1. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4: 6)/
2. Paul said, "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7: 18), but in another letter he said, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" (Php. 4: 13).
B. Se we learn here that our only basis for expecting help from God should be our servant-hood and our reverent fear of God. The widow said, “your servant (her husband) feared the Lord.” One meaning of the Hebrew word used here for fear is “reverence or awe” (V 1). Wise King Solomon said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1: 7). Jesus said, that whoever hears His sayings, and does them, He would liken to a wise man (Matt. 7: 24).
X. God wants to help us. God, through his servant, Elisha, said immediately, “What shall I do for you?” (V 2). In the New Living Translation, he says, “What can I do to help you?”
A. Not only that, He is eager to help us (V 2). God, through His prophet, was saying, "How can I help? What can I do for you?” Jesus told us that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. (Lk. 12: 32). He said, the Father desires to give good things to those who ask Him (Matt. 7: 11).
B. Also we see here, that God does not judge or condemn us for our past sins. "As far as the east is from the west, He has removed our sins from us…" Psm. 108. He does not consult our past to plan our future (V 2). God, (through Elisha) didn’t say, “Well, your husband was unwise. He shouldn’t have gone into debt like he did. I tried to tell him, and now you and the children will just have to suffer the consequences.
C. And besides that, you’ve waited all this time, until the very last minute to finally call on me, so why should I help you?” No, God said, “I will help you – I want to help you!!” Isaiah praised God for His wonderful mercy, saying, "You have cast all my sins behind Your back" (Isa. 38:17).
D. Next, what did God do? He asked her here to do introspection; He asked her to make an inventory of what she had "in the house." He wants us to learn to recognize and declare that all that we have is His, so to give the widow the impetus for her to make that introspection, God said, “What do you have in the house?” (V 2). Don’t think God didn’t already know what was in the house. He did. He just wanted the widow to make an inventory. This is the lesson for us. He wants us to recognize that he has already given us what we need to solve our problems. And how do we solve our problems? – we take stock and do an inventory. But then learn we learn to view it from GOD’s perspective.
1. God asked Moses what Moses had in his hand, and Moses said, "A rod." But what Moses saw as a rod, was to God, whatever it needed to be, (a snake then, and at a later point an instrument and symbol of God's power) in order to impress the Egyptians with whom Moses would do spiritual battle. God uses what we have, and enhances it and uses it to meet our needs. But He wants us to go a little deeper in our spiritual understanding and realize that God has already given us in Christ all that we need to be victorious Christians.
2. Samson only had the jawbone of a donkey. He used what God gave him, and with it Samson killed 1,000 Philistines.
3. Shamgar only had an ox-goad. He used what God gave him, but with it, he killed 600 of his enemies
4. Peter only had a net, and he had fished all night and caught nothing. But he used what God gave him, and at Jesus' command, he let that same net down and caught a great load of fish.
5. God gives us what we have, and then teaches that if we use what He has given us, not matter how seemingly little or small in our eyes, we have what we need to deliver us.
6. He has endowed all of us with talents and gifts and strengths and abilities, and all He is teaching us here, through this widow, is that we have to make them available to Him and submit them to Him for His use.
XI. God does not respond to our needs; He responds to OUR FAITH in HIS ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO MEET OUR NEEDS (V 2) *(see endnote)
A. He invites us to tell him our needs
B. He uses what we have. “Your handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil” (V 2). Remember, oil represented money in those days. It was a medium of exchange. It was used for cooking, for cleaning, for medicinal purposes, for lighting the home by burning in lamps, and for religious and ceremonial use.
C. In the New Living Translation, the widow says: “Nothing at all, except a flask of oil.” What we may see as only a little, or "nothing," God sees as enough (V2).
1. In I Kings 17: 1-8 we see that the widow of Zarepath had just a little bit of meal and some oil, but when she was obedient to God, who spoke through His prophet Elijah, and then submitted it for God's use, God miraculously multiplied that oil and meal to provide many meals
2. In the gospels we read about Jesus feeding thousands of people. What did He do? Did He put in a requisition order for several head of cattle? No, He asked his disciples what they had. They said, “well, all we’ve got is five loaves and two fish,” but when they used what they had, and it was submitted to the Master, for His use, Jesus was able to multiply it to feed thousands of people, with food even left over. Notice also, that it didn’t start multiplying until it was given out. What if the disciples would have doubted Jesus – that things couldn’t change, just because he said a prayer over it, but no, they were obedient and started passing it out, and then it multiplied!
D. One of the things the "oil" is representative of, is our gifts and talents, abilities, skills, strengths; it is the raw material He will use to bless us (V 2)
E. Next we learn through this story, that we are to ask God, and He will show us how we are to use the gifts we have. “Then he said, go, borrow vessels from all of your neighbors. Borrow empty vessels. And don’t borrow just a few.” (V 3)
F. He expects us to do something: there are activities we must perform – “Go…borrow” (V3)
1. The widow of Zarapeth had to cook the cakes by faith before the oil and meal could be multiplied.
2. As I’ve already said, before the loaves and fish could multiply to feed the 5,000, and the 4,000, the disciples of Jesus had to start dishing out the loaves and fishes, even though when they looked at it at first, it didn't appear to them to be enough.
3. Peter had to cast out the empty net in order to catch the great load of fish.
4. One 19th Century English preacher said, "Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God."
5. Another said, "Work as if everything depended on you, and pray as if everything depended on God."
6. So, the widow, in obedience had to: ”…go and borrow empty vessels.”
7. Just so, God will put people in our life who are willing to help us accomplish His will for our lives, because the implication is that there would be people who would be willing to loan their vessels.
XII. We are to be "empty vessels;" we must empty ourselves of all our own hopes, plans, desires and ambitions (V 3). We must say, "God, I want what you want." Not only do the empty vessels represent that truth that we should remain empty, but they also are a metaphor for others; the empty vessels are representative of those who are without Christ, and consequently are empty vessels also. As we pour out our gifts to them and on them, we are portraying and representing the Word of God to them; but then we must leave the results with God
A. He will show us the exact step-by-step method by which we are to proceed: “go and borrow empty vessels,” and, "The steps of a good man (person) are ordered by the Lord…" (Psm. 37: 23)
B. As I’ve already pointed out, her neighbors were willing to help, by their willingness to give the empty vessels. So too, there will be others who will want to help us in our endeavors – others who will come alongside us to help (V 3)
1. Just as David had Joab
2. Just as Moses had Aaron and Joshua
3. Just as Gideon had his 300
4. Just as Paul had Barnabas and Silas
5. So too, in this case, the widow’s neighbors were willing to help, by their willingness to give the empty vessels. In fact, they probably had to empty out, or pour out some vessels that already had something in them.
6. In the same way, God will provide others to help us as we seek to pursue and fulfill God’s will for our lives
7. He will send people across our path and into our lives who will be a blessing to us, and help us to better understand the ways and the will of God
C. We also learn here that we are to expect and prepare for BIG Blessings. We need to get rid of small thinking when it comes to God’s ability to bless us – God said through Elisha, “Don’t borrow a few vessels!” (V 3). God testifies of Himself in Gen. 18:4: "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" Jesus Himself said, "With God, all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26). We are not to “…limit the God of Israel” (Psm. 78:41).
1. The Lord said He will give His people "the heritage of the heathen" (Psm. 111:6)
2. He said He would make us "the head and not the tail" (Deut. 28:13).
3. He said, if we bring the tithes into the storehouse, He would "open up the windows of heaven, and pour us out a blessing, so that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3: 10).
4. He said if we give, it would be given unto us, "…a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over…" (Lk. 6: 38).
XIII. “And when you come into the house, shut the door upon yourself and your sons” (V 4). In the beginning of our efforts for God, we are to "shut ourselves in" with God
A. Jesus said, "…When you pray, enter into your closet, and shut the door…and the Father that sees in secret shall reward you openly" (Matt. 6: 6-7) (V 4)
1. The offering of our gifts, talents, abilities, skills and strengths must first be UNTO THE LORD, in the secret place of prayer. Jesus said that the Father who sees in secret will REWARD us openly (Matt. 6: 4)
2. We have to spend that time in the secret place of our heart, learning to offer up everything we have and we are or ever hope to be TO HIM.
3. Paul told the Corinthians and us, "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (I Cor. 10 :31).
4. Again, he told the Church at Colossia: "Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (Col. 3: 17).
5. So the Lord, through His prophet told the widow to first offer in secret what she had TO THE LORD. We must do this also, and when we do, He will enhance and develop our gifts and abilities to a degree that is impossible in our strength alone
6. We must pour ourselves and everything we are out to Him who is the giver of all we have and are. He cannot pour in if we are not pouring out
7. That’s God’s rule: when we pour out, He pours in. In fact, He can’t pour in until we have first poured out.
8. Paul the Apostle said, “I plead with you dear brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to give your bodies to God as a living sacrifice because of all He has done for you, which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to the behavior and customs of this world. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. So that you can learn to know God’s will for your life, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom. 12: 1-2 NLT).
9. We pour out and He pours in
B. We also learn here that the blessing is only limited by the availability of the vessels, and their capacity to remain empty in order to receive: “And pour out the oil into the empty vessels, and set aside those that are full” (V 4)
C. During the process, we are to continue to seek God's wisdom as we go, for instructions on how to proceed. (V 4). We don’t venture to act on our own – based on our own meager wisdom, but we are to look to Him at every stage of our journey through life.
D. We must do what He tells us to do: Obedience is the key to receiving the blessing: “So she went from him, and shut the door upon herself and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out the oil” (V 5). The NLT says, “So she did what she was told.” Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (I Jhn. 14: 14; and again, He said, "If a man loves me, he will keep my words" (I Jhn. 14: 24). There is something we must do. There is an expenditure of effort that is required on our part.
1. Not only is the oil representative of our gifts, strengths, talents and abilities, the Oil is also representative of the Holy Spirit of God
2. As we obey and "pour out" the oil of our talent and ability into others/into the world around us, He "pours in" His Spirit, represented by the Oil, into our "vessel"/spirit, and replenishes us for continual giving
a. When the natural oil was touched by the Oil of the Holy Spirit, the natural oil she was pouring out became the best that could be imagined. It was the best in all Israel!
b. The oil, representative of our talents and abilities, skills and strengths, will be improved, enhanced, developed and embellished by the power of the Holy Spirit, far beyond what we can accomplish in our own efforts
3. As we act in faith, He touches our meager talents and abilities, and blesses them to multiply them far beyond our natural ability
a. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11: 1).
b. The widow who gave only a penny into the Temple Treasury was said by Jesus to have given more than anyone, because she gave all she had.
E. The blessings will flow as long as we remain "empty vessels" “And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another vessel,’ and he said to her, ‘There are no more empty vessels,’ and the oil stopped’” (V 6).
1. The people to whom we will pour out our talents are also represented by the empty vessels. Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing" (Jhn. 15: 5).
2. Like the Apostle Paul, we are to "count all things as loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my (our) Lord" (Php. 3: 8).
F. At every stage -- even when the gifts and blessings have flowed and seemingly ended, we are to continue to seek God's wisdom, and He will have yet further instructions. The widow had to know the oil was very valuable. That oil represented money, but still she did not presume to act on her own initiative, and I’m sure she was getting the picture. She was probably thinking to herself: “I’ve hit the Canaan Land Lottery. There’s a lot of money here,” but still, she sought the Lord's direction through His prophet at every step, before she acted. “Then she came back to the man of God, and told him what had happened” (V 7).
G. We live in the world and interact with other people, so there is a "selling" activity that must go on -- a marketing -- a giving forth, of our gifts, talents, strengths and abilities -- but all should be done for His glory. “And Elisha said, ‘go and sell the oil, and pay your debts…’” (V 7)
1. Our "pouring out" is the means God uses for our deliverance, and to teach us how He meets our needs -- not only financially, but physically, mentally, and most importantly – our spiritual needs.
2. Our "pouring out" is also the means of our continued provision
XIV. God wants more for us than we want for ourselves. “…and you and your children can live on the profit that’s left” (after the debt is paid). Remember, in the beginning she was just asking for her debts to be paid, but she and her children were going to have a living for the rest of their lives. (V 7). Isn’t God wonderful! He gives always gives us more than we ask for because He loves us.
A. There is also an assumption here that there WILL BE BUYERS for our "oil," that is, there are those who will want and need our gifts, and be recipients of our gifts. There are people who need what we have to give. There are people in the world that only we can reach – our gifts were given to us to help people that only we can touch. In this case, the widow benefited financially -- her financial needs were met, and in turn, her physical needs, so it is OK and it is expected that we will personally benefit from our efforts (V 7)
B. Also, by His blessing on us, through our gifts, we are expected to be a blessing to others (V 7). Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given unto you…” (Lk. 6: 38)
C. She was instructed to use the profit first, to pay her debt (V 7)
D. She was not only to be delivered from her debt -- but also from whatever consequences were brought on her by sin. God permits certain circumstances to occur in our lives – many times, unpleasant circumstances – but He allows those things to come into our life for our growth and development as Christians (V 7)
E. We will also have more than we asked for: not just enough to meet our needs, but enough "and then some," for us and our family to "live on" (V 7)
END NOTE AND CLOSE:
FAITH: this is the usual and ordinary method by which God blesses His people, and moves on our behalf to meet our needs (James 1: 6-8). "Without faith it is impossible to please God…" (Heb. 11: 6). He wants His people to learn to live and breathe FAITH. At the same time, we cannot put God "in a box," or limit the God of Israel. Because He is a God of compassion and mercy, He sometimes moves to bless and deliver those who have not specifically asked for His help. Witness the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 by Jesus. We really have no specific word that anyone asked to be fed by Jesus, but He was "moved with compassion" (Matt. 14; Matt. 15). Again, in the case of the raising from the dead of the widow of Nain's son, Jesus "had compassion on her." We have no scripture that He was asked to do anything for this heartbroken woman, but He raised her son just because His heart of mercy went out to her (Luke 7).
We could find many other examples in scripture to assure us of the fact that even if we are unfaithful -- even if our faith is small -- and sometimes, even if we don't ask, He remains faithful to bless us and meet our needs, because of His compassion. Regardless of the fact that we can depend on His mercy even when we are weak, yet, He expects His children to move ahead and grow and mature in our understanding of how to operate in the spirit. He wants us to understand that Faith is the golden key that unlocks the storehouse of His blessings for us. And faith manifests itself in obediently doing what God says to do. "What things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them" (READ MARK 11: 19-26).
© Originally opened up to me in 2004, and updated in July 2014 and again in September 2015. This teaching may be freely used by any and all for the greater glory of God. I'm sure God will show you even more than He has shown me in these scriptures; just add and adapt to your situation as needed, to the glory of God through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! All glory be to Him!
