2 KINGS 4:1-7 "A WIDOW, A POT OF OIL AND GOD"
* In the days of Elijah and Elisha in Israel, the principle prophets of God gathered about them a
group of God’s workers called "the sons of the prophets."
* One of these "sons of the prophets" died leaving debts and the creditor harassed the widow,
seeking to sell her two sons as bondservants to pay the debt.
* The thrilling story of how God heard the cry of this poor widow is a blessing to our lives!
* Note with me a few things in this message tonight!
(1) GOD CAN ALWAYS OPEN A WAY FOR HIS CHILDREN IN TROUBLE!
* Now, here in Israel this "son of the prophets" died in debt - v.1
A) He brought heartache to his wife & almost brought slavery to his sons by having debts unpaid.
* The widow was utterly heartbroken! * She grieved over her dead husband,
* No doubt she grieved over the unpaid debts as any godly woman would do!
* And she was nearly frantic that the pitiless creditor was about to take her 2 sons into bondage.
B) So in desperation, she cried unto Elisha in v.1 "Thy servant my husband is dead ......."
* God’s faithful prophet Elisha had a remedy which God showed him!
* Thank God there is always a way out for a child of God if we go to God & trust Him!
C) Who could be more helpless than such a poor widow in Bible times?
* She had no trade, she couldn’t teach school nor be a secretary as modern women can.
* She had her children to care for, had no money to live on & was faced with disaster!
* You talking about somebody being at the end of their rope, brother she was!
D) But she came to God through His prophet and God showed the way out!
* Let us remember that when trouble comes, the thing to do is come to God!
* Ps.50:15 "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
* God loves us; He always has plenty; He always knows a way out!
(2) WHAT YOU HAVE IS ENOUGH FOR GOD! * Now in v.2,
* Elisha said to the poor widow, "What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house?"
* In other words, whatever you have in the house is enough for God!
A) If it’s nothing but a pot of oil, God can multiply the oil!
* If it’s only a handful of meal in the bottom of the barrel, God can make it last to feed Elijah and
a woman and her son until the drought is passed - 1 Kings 17:8-16
* If there are only 5 small barley biscuits & 2 fishes in a little lad’s lunch, when Jesus blesses it,
and breaks it, it’ll be enough for 5000 people!
B) God said to Moses, "What is that in thine hand?" and Moses said, "A rod."
* But that stick became the "rod of God" that could bring plagues upon all of Egypt,
* That could become a serpent before Pharaoh, that could open or close the Red Sea,
* That could bring water out of a rock for millions of people!
C) Samson took the jawbone of an ass & killed 1000 Philistines, the enemies of Israel.
* It’s wonderful to come to realize that God is the Master of circumstances!
* I asked someone one time, "How’s it going?" * He said, "Oh, pretty good under the ......."
* I said, "You ought to get out from under the circumstances!"
* A Christian is not under circumstances, they’re under grace!
D) God is teaching us a lesson here in our text! * How little you have doesn’t matter!
* The only thing that matters is that you wholly surrender what you have to God!
(3) GOD WANTS EMPTY VESSELS AND PLENTY OF THEM! * In v.3,
* Elisha said to the troubled widow, "Go borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy ......."
A) To the logical, but unbelieving mind, it would appear silly to get a lot of empty vessels to hold
oil when one did not know where the oil was coming from!
* But those who get help from God must provide the empty vessels!
B) For the poor widow to go out & appeal to her neighbors that she might borrow empty vessels,
lots of empty vessels, would be a real test of her faith! * Let me illustrate:
* "Hello Mrs. Jacobson, may I borrow all the vessels you can spare? I’d like to borrow the churn,
milk pail, vinegar jugs, syrup buckets, water jars, anything you can spare!"
C) I can imagine the raised eyebrows of Mrs. Jacobson. * Surely she is glad to let her widowed
neighbor borrow some vessels, but what in the world is she gonna do with so many?
* Fill them with oil? * But where will the oil come from? Out of that one little pot of oil she has?
* Then the explanation! * The prophet of God said she should get plenty of vessels and that God
would fill them all! * And she could sell enough to pay all of her debts!
D) Some of the neighbors probably laughed at her! * Another would smile and say,
* "She’s off her rocker, she’s lost it." * Some probably insisted that she must not depend on
such foolishness, that prophet aint right, she ought not listen to him like that .......!
E) And I can imagine that as the widow and her sons brought all the vessels home to the bare house,
fear gripped the widow’s heart and she thought she would surely die of shame,
* If she had to carry all those vessels back & tell all the curious, gossipy neighbors that after all,
God did not furnish oil to fill them all.
F) She had faith in God and in the prophet of God! * God wants empty vessels, He can fill ’em!
* Some people are not filled with the Holy Spirit! * Perhaps the reason is that they have not been
emptied of other things!
* The cares of this world & the deceitfulness of riches so choke the Word that it becomes unfruitful!
* And too much to eat at the tables of this world means that one does not feed upon the manna
from heaven! * May we, like this poor widow woman in the days of Elisha,
* Get empty vessels & set them down where God can fill them with oil!
(4) THE MIRACLE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS! * Elisha said to the widow in v.4 .......
* This miracle and work of faith was not to be seen by outsiders!
* It may be that some of the neighbors from whom the vessels were borrowed, never quite
believed that God had multiplied the oil so that it filled all the vessels!
A) Were there any witnesses besides the family?
* Plenty of people in the community, no doubt, thought that the age of miracles was past since
they themselves never saw one! * Are there miracles in the world today?
* If there are, they don’t happen before the annual meeting of the American Association For The
Advancement Of Science!
B) You can be sure that in most cases where God heals the body of some humble Christian,
wonderfully releasing him from the pain and giving health and strength,
* There is no committee of Doctors present to see the miracle take place!
C) When Jesus would raise from the dead the little daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, the
people laughed Him to scorn. * But when He had put them all out,
* He taketh the father & mother of the damsel & them that were with Him & entereth in where
the damsel was lying and Jesus raised her from the dead - Mark 5:40
D) When Peter was sent forth to pray over the dead body of Dorcas, we are told in Acts 9:40,
* "But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said,
Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up."
* Don’t you see that when God does big business with needy souls, He does it where the
unbelievers & the scoffers will not see it?
* That is one of the main reasons for secret praying! * If you really want something from God,
then enter into your closet & talk to your Father in secret & He’ll reward you openly!
(5) THE OIL FILLED ALL THE VESSELS, THEN STOPPED - V.6
* When all was ready, when the vessels had been borrowed from all the neighbors & the door was
shut, then the mother took her place with the little pot of oil,
* And her sons prepared to bring her the vessels for filling, one after the other.
A) I wish I could have observed that scene! * The destiny of these lads depends upon the outcome.
* The mother’s heart is fearful, yet glad and expectant! * I think her hand trembles as she lifts the
pot of oil! * And as she pours it into the first vessel, pours & pours, the vessel is filled,
* And yet the pot of oil has not diminished!
B) Quickly, lest the miraculous stream of riches cease to flow, she asks for another vessel.
* And she pours into it as a son sets the first to the side.
* Her lips tremble with praise! * Vessel after vessel is filled with the rich olive oil until every
vessel available has been filled to the brim!
C) Here is wealth indeed, for in the East & especially among Jews who used no lard,
* Olive oil was a necessity with no substitute!
* Oil for frying food, oil to burn in lamps, oil for every kind of ointment, salve, face cream,
* Oil to make leather pliable, to keep iron from rusting!
D) No wonder olive oil could be sold in any market!
* The widow’s time of trial & poverty & worry is done! * Her sons are no longer in danger
of enslavement!
E) I can imagine that the muscles in the widow’s back are cramped, that beads of sweat are on
her forehead, she pours in the oil from the undiminished store in the little pot!
* And as the vessel is nearly full she says quickly to her son, "bring me yet another vessel."
* But the son says, "There is not a vessel more!"
* And then the scripture says, "And the oil stayed."
F) When there were no more vessels, God worked no more miracles!
* When faith asked no more, God gave no more! * I was not there & scripture doesn’t tell us what
the woman thought or said, but I have long imagined that she cried aloud,
* "Oh if I had only known the oil would keep pouring, I could have gotten so many more vessels
to fill." * She got only as much oil as she provided vessels for!
G) This same prophet Elisha who had encouraged the widow to trust God to multiply her oil later
was near death, and King Joash of Israel came to see him. * 2 Kings 13:14-19
* Elisha promised deliverance from the Syrians and said to Joash, "Take the arrows."
* Joash took them & Elisha said, "Smite upon the ground." * And Joash smote the ground 3 times
and stopped. * Then the Bible says that Elisha was wroth with him and said in v.19,
* "Thou shouldest have smitten 5 or 6 times, then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hast consumed
it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."
H) The King could’ve smitten 6 times as well as three times!
* His victory was limited by his faith beforehand! * So when the woman’s vessels were all filled,
the oil stayed! * Had she gathered more vessels, she would’ve had more oil!
(6) ENOUGH OIL LEFT TO LIVE ON!
* Immediately the widow came to tell the prophet Elisha, the man of God and He said in v.7 .......
A) First: She was to pay her debt! * Let every Christian remember that that comes first!
* Matt. 5:23-24 "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and rememberest that thy brother
hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
B) How gladly this woman must’ve paid the debt that had hung over her husband now gone to Glory,
* And over her and had threatened the happiness of her sons! * So the debt was paid!
* But Elisha said, "And live thou and thy children of the rest."
C) One of the marvels of God’s goodness is that when God answers prayer, He can do more than
give us the bare necessities! * Eph.3:20 "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding ......."
* So when the woman got enough oil to pay her debt, she also got enough for her & her sons
to live on!
CLOSE
A) Why not go borrow vessels, empty vessels, borrow not a few?
* Why not make plenty of room for God to work?
* Why not make big plans and pray big prayers?
B) And as certainly as we put our faith in God & follow His directions, we may expect Him to fill
every vessel that, in faith, we empty and provide for Him!
C) Oh, that God would fill us tonight with His Spirit!
* The one who is full of the Spirit has all the fullness of God!
* He can have everything else he needs!
D) I make it my resolve that for all my future needs, I will be filled with the Holy Spirit!
