Text: 2 Kings 4: 1-7
1A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” 2So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 3Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4“And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
5So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased.
7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
Subject: “Rut, Rot, Or Revial?”
In the text, we find a woman who is in a predicament that many individuals and many families find themselves in from time to time. She In a “Rut.” You know what a “rut” is don’t you? A rut is place where you feel “stuck, helpless and hopeless.” It’s a terrible and frustrating place to be in because many times you feel like you haven’t done anything to deserve being in a such a place.
Being in a rut will cause you to lose sleep at night. Being in a rut will cause you to have to take nerve medicine. Being in a rut will cause you to be irritable and hard to get along. But the worst thing about being in a rut is that if you don’t find a way to get out of it, a rut will turn into a rot! In order words, a rut… unless you find an escape from it, will rob you of joy and life, and leave you in a dead and rotting place.
It’s the kind of place this Widow woman of Zerapheth found herself in. Here in the scripture we find this poor widow in a desperate situation. She is trying to raise her family alone. Evidently, her husband died leaving her with a mountain of debt. How many of you know that bills will mess with your mind and put you in a mental rut?
The record says that she found herself in such financial trouble that the sheriff has threatened to come and take her sons as slaves. It was not unusual, during bible times that if a person got behind in their bills members of their family were sold into slavery until the bills were paid off. Thank God they don’t do that today. If they did… there might not be many of us in church this morning.
And so, this woman widow does what many of us have learned to do when we find ourselves in a rut. In her despair she cries out to the man of God. It’s good to have a preacher in your corner! But now, sometimes you need to recognize that the preacher is human and gets tired. As I preacher who gets tired from to time, I need to tell you that sometimes, you can get out of your rut yourself, if you know how to pray!
I’ll give this woman credit… she got in touch with somebody who knew how to get in touch with heaven. Even if know how to pray for yourself, it’s good to be able to get in agreement with someone who has a right relationship with God. That way, you can touch on a thing and get a good result as you petition God together.
The bible says that this widow woman called on Elisha and asks him to help her find a way out of this seemingly impossible situation. She is looking for a miracle.
Now Note: the first thing Elisha does is to ask her a rather strange question. Although she has already explained that she is destitute, he asks her what she has in her house. She responds by saying: "Well, nothing at all" but then she remembers, "Well actually we do have something... there is just a little bit of oil"
Of course this is one of those O.T. stories that is really so very rich in meaning. You’ve probably heard this passage preached many times before. You know that as the widow gathers up empty jars from her neighbors, God indeed does a wonderful miracle with that tiny bit of oil. He multiplies it somehow so that once she starts to pour, the oil doesn’t stop flowing until every vessel is filled. Then she takes the oil and sells it to pay off her debts.
Of course, the only thing that caused the oil to stop flowing was the fact that they ran out of jars to contain it. But God was able to fill every jar that she was able to produce.
Its a marvelous story about making room for God’s blessing! But as is often the case with these Old Testament passages, this story has a deeper layer of meaning too. I believe that there’s another message here just beneath the surface.
Its a message that is found as we analyze the symbols in the story. Students of typology would quickly recognize two standard types here: of course, Elisha typically always represents Christ and oil represents the Holy Spirit.
And I don’t think it would be stretching it to suggest that the house represents the modern Church and the widow represents this present generation of believers.
Notice, she is in danger of losing her children, the next generation, To the creditor, who I think represents the World. Again, she is in danger of losing her children because there is nothing left in her house.
Now let’s follow this line of application through for a moment. If there is a deeper message coming out of this passage, could it be that the world is indeed crouching at the door ready to snatch away the next generation into a life of sin and slavery?
Could it be that when one generation allows God’s house to become empty the next generation pays the price? Could it be that we are in danger of losing our children to the world because we have neglected to show them the power of God at work in and through the Church? These are heavy questions. And I don’t mean to come on too strong this evening, but let us take a good solid look at ourselves.
The thing is most of us are now into the third generation as Christians. Most of us, my age, can remember our great-grandparents, our grandparents, and our parents. If you are saved and in the church now, it is probably because you had some strong Christian roots that were handed down from your great-grandparents to your grand-parents, to your parents. In other words, you have a background of folk who knew the Lord as their savior!
They were people of sacrifice and prayer. They cherished the Touch of God. Many of them blazed the trails. They laid the groundwork for our modern movement. In that sense we owe a great debt to those old soldiers, but the question for us is: “What’s happened to the fire and the sacrifice, and the prayer in us? What will we be leaving for the generation of young men and young women who are coming after us, who are watching what we do and how we act, and what we say, and how we treat one another?
The question tonight is: Are we leaving them a legacy of Christianity or are we simply preparing for them a Rut, that can lead to a Rot, unless we lead them now to a Revival? That’s why the word tells us: “Train up a child when it’s young and when it gets old it won’t depart from it.” My sisters and my brothers, it’s sad but it’s true… in some places in the U-S the game is already over.
Due to declining numbers churches have made the decision to just close the door on Sunday nights. But I think that’s a sad thing. Sunday night is typically the one opportunity we have to gather together around the altar as a Church family and seek the Lord. I believe that’s a practice worth preserving! We say: "Oh, its hard with the kids." Well, of course it is! It’s always been hard to bundle up the kids and get them out to Sunday School and Evening service. It was hard when my grandparents had to get my parents ready. It was hard when my parents had to get my brothers and I ready. The issue is: Is the altar worth preserving or isn’t it?
I can remember how week in and week out my parents dragged me to church Sunday nights and I slept on the pew, or on the floor. I fell asleep to the sound of people praising god and I woke up to the sound of people crying out to God at the altar.
Parents, let me challenge you to bring your children to Church Sunday nights and let them learn what the presence of God feels like! Let it sink in from an early age. That’s what’s going to keep them in the years ahead. Like Samuel who grew up in the temple and developed a taste for the Spirit of God from an early age, our children need a first hand knowledge of the anointing.
I’m about finished, but notice what the Prophet told the woman to do here:
2 Kings 4:4 then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."
The Prophet commanded the woman to close the door behind her and her sons. Jesus used the same language when he referred to going into the prayer closet didn’t He? He said to "shut the door behind you." Parents need to to bring their children along with them to the place of prayer. We need to bring them into the presence of God with us. We need to shut the door behind us and pour out our hearts to God until the oil of His spirit starts to flow. And then, when the World starts banging on the door for our children, we need to cry out to God like this widow of old.
The prophet asked her "What do you have in your house?" And some of us, like that widow woman answered at first: "Nothing... Nothing at all..” Elisha challenged the Widow of Zerapheth to prepare for the blessing of God by borrowing vessels from her neighbours. As when she follows the instructions of the man of God, God indeed does a wonderful miracle. He multiplies it somehow so that once she starts to pour, the oil doesn’t stop flowing until every vessel is filled. That’s what I pray will happen to our families… that we make up our mind that we’re not going to stop seeking the Lord unless every member of our families are saved!
--When fathers get saved, young boys get off street corners!
--When mothers get saved, young girls grow up to be fine young women!
--When brothers get saved, they become mentors to other brothers!
--When sisters get saved, they become mentors to other sisters!
. . . And when that happens… Ruts and Rots, Turn into Revivals!
