In 1 Kings 17:7-24, we saw how Elijah ministered to a poor widow at Zarephath and her only son. Because of the drought, she only had a bowl of flour and a dab of oil left. She was out picking wood when Elijah met her and requested a cup of drink as well as a piece of bread. She responded by saying that she could not accede to his request because she only had enough flour and a dab of oil left to prepare one last meal for herself and her son. She was going home with the wood she had picked for the last meal, and then would probably wait to starve to death. In verse 13, Elijah then assured her that God had the answer to her problem. Telling her not to fear but to go home as she had intended and to first bake a bread cake, bring it to him, then afterward bake another one for herself and her son. Elijah prophesied to her in verse 14 saying, “For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’” And everything happened as the prophet had told her. Another incident described in the same chapter was how Elijah raised the same widow’s son from the dead.
But
now in 2 Kings 4:1-7, we see Elisha also called upon to help a widow, the wife
of one of the sons of the prophets. Elisha by this time had assumed the
leadership among the prophets. Recognizing his leadership, the widow came
pleading with him for help. Her God-fearing husband had died and left her
with a debt to pay. She was afraid that the creditor would come and take their
two children to be his slaves. Elisha then asked her what she had left in her
house so that he could do something to alleviate her situation.
Replying to him she said that she had nothing except one last jar of oil.
Responding
to her, Elisha instructed her to go and borrow as many large vessels as she
could from her neighbors. When she had borrowed them, she was to go to her
house, shut the door with her sons, and pour out the oil into those borrowed
vessels. She obeyed as she was told. Second Kings 4:5-6 describe what happened
saying, “So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they
were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the
vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said
to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. She came to
report to Elisha, who was referred to here as the man of God. He told her to go
and sell the oil. From what she would make from selling the oil she was to pay
the debt and survive on the rest of the earnings made from the sales of the
oil.
From
what God did for the two widows, we can be assured that we have a reliable
God who is more than able to see us through our most desperate moments in life.
He saw to the needs of the widow of Zarephath through Elijah and in 2 Kings
4:1-7, He saw to the needs of the widow of a trainee prophet. On both counts,
it was God who had brought about the miracles through His prophets. The problem
we see in the widow of the trainee prophet was not a small one. It involved the
death of her husband, the man of the house leaving her deprived of any means to
survive. And then he also left behind a huge debt that the widow could have no
means to pay. She would have to allow her sons to be taken away for slavery.
Coming to Elisha was her best decision. It was certainly better than staying
quiet and suffering. God always has the solution for all our needs.
Lessons:
(1) God
is more than able to handle our problems no matter how big they may seem.
(2) God
has the solution to our predicament, so we don’t need to suffer in silence.
(3) We
need to surrender what little we have when we come to Him, and trust Him completely.
(4) God’s
supply always equals or exceeds the demands.
Hallelujah, what a generous God!
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