The Widow And The Great Woman.

THE WIDOW AND THE GREAT WOMAN.

2 Kings 4:1-17.

These accounts show Elisha to be a worthy successor to Elijah, and his miracles anticipate the compassionate ministry of Jesus.

1. The Widow.

We are confronted first with “a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets” (2 KINGS 4:1), who cried out to Elisha concerning the sudden destitution which had befallen her and her two sons upon the death of her husband. She reminds Elisha that her husband “did fear the LORD” - so that whatever debt he may have left was not due to any wrongdoing on his part. However, the creditor was at the door, ready to take her two sons away from her as “bondmen.”

Now, such practice was allowed in Israel, as in other parts of the world. Israel, however, had the most compassionate laws to alleviate such a dreadful circumstance. After all, why should one Israelite be enslaved by another when the LORD had delivered ALL the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt (cf. Leviticus 25:39-43)?

The problem for the widow would be that the taking away of her sons would also leave her alone and vulnerable. She knew better than to seek help from the courts of the land, but sought rather to the LORD through His prophet.

Elisha immediately stressed his own inability to help the widow, but courteously and kindly suggested a solution:

“What have you in the house?” (2 KINGS 4:2a). “Nothing but a pot of oil” (2 KINGS 4:2b) seemed too small and insignificant to be even worth mentioning: but sometimes the LORD uses ordinary things in an extraordinary way in order to involve us in His answer to our prayers.

In obedience to Elisha’s “borrow not a few” vessels (2 KINGS 4:3), and as an act of trust in the LORD, the woman and her sons became fully engaged in the borrowing of jars and pouring of oil (2 KINGS 4:4-6). The neighbours were also very obliging. The oil only stopped when they ran out of vessels.

“Sell the oil,” instructed Elisha (2 KINGS 4:7). The debt was paid, and there was enough money left over for the widow and her children to live off the rest. The present crisis was resolved, and the foreseeable future catered for.

2. The Great Woman.

In his peripatetic ministry, Elisha would often pass through Shunem. A “great woman” dwelling there constrained him to eat bread whenever he was passing that way (2 KINGS 4:8). She perceived that Elisha was “an holy man of God,” and suggested to her husband that they build and furnish a private room on their property where he might sleep, pray, study and meditate whenever he passed that way (2 KINGS 4:9-10).

One day, as he rested in his chamber, Elisha asked Gehazi his servant to call the Shunammite, and ask her what they might do for her in return for her hospitality. Did she wish him to speak to the king or to the captain of the host on her behalf? But she declined the offer, being content with the life she now led amongst her own people (2 KINGS 4:11-13).

So Elisha asked Gehazi what was to be done for her, and Gehazi pointed out that she was childless, and that her husband was old (2 KINGS 4:14). Without children they would have no-one to inherit their property and wealth.

This is one of several instances of childlessness in the Bible, each with its own miraculous resolution. Abraham and Sarah (cf. Romans 4:19). Isaac and Rebekah (cf. Genesis 25:21). Jacob and Rachel (cf. Genesis 29:31, Genesis 30:22-23). The parents of Samson (cf. Judges 13:2-3). Elkanah and Hannah (cf. 1 Samuel 1:2, 1 Samuel 1:19-20). The “great woman” and her husband (2 KINGS 4:14-16). Zacharias and Elizabeth (cf. Luke 1:13, Luke 1:18-20). All fulfilled in their season.

When Elisha announced to the woman that she would bear a son, she was at first incredulous. She even scolded Elisha, thinking how unbecoming of a “man of God” to tease her in this way (2 KINGS 4:16). But Elisha was not mocking, but sincere.

The prophecy was fulfilled at the exact time that Elisha had predicted (2 KINGS 4:17).