Elisha and the Vessels of Oil 2 Kings 4. 1–7

It is remarkable that some of the most instructive stories of the Bible arise from the humblest of households and the most desperate of circumstances. The passage before us is certainly a case in point. The episode is set in the dark days of apostasy in Israel during the reign of King Jehoram.

A godly woman has suffered the tragedy of her God-fearing husband’s death, and now unable to pay her debts, the creditor is threatening to take her two sons into slavery. We learn that her husband was one of ‘the sons of the prophets’. In those idolatrous times when false prophets were plentiful, 1 Kgs. 18. 19, Elisha and other prophets saw the need to foster learning and training in godliness for men whom God could use to call the nation back to Him. I fear that, generally speaking, we are not sufficiently exercised about the training and preparation of the next generation of elders, evangelists, and Bible teachers, cp. 2 Tim. 2. 2.

Here is a woman, now a widow, who had probably forfeited much to support a husband who had given his time to the service of God. This kind of thinking and sacrifice runs counter to the spirit of the modern world with its ‘equality agenda’, but we may be sure that God deeply values the dedication of those who support those who serve, 1 Sam. 30. 24, 25; Matt. 10. 41.

We can also learn that godliness is no insurance against calamities overtaking God’s servants. The widow of the story contrasts in status with the ‘great woman’ of the next story, 2 Kgs. 4. 8. Again, wealth and prestige are no protection against difficulties in life. Christians need to awake to the dreadful perversion of biblical truth represented by the false ‘prosperity gospel’, so prevalent in many parts of the world. On the contrary, God in His providence often allows His people to be exposed to all kinds of troubles. So doing, He develops their faith, Jas. 1. 2-4, and character, Rom. 5. 4 NKJV, and draws them away from the danger of self-reliance, 2 Cor. 1. 9.

Appeal to Elisha

Widows were a vulnerable class in antiquity, and God was concerned that their needs should be remembered.¹ Having lost her godly husband, this unnamed widow now faced the further disaster of inability to repay the creditor, whereupon her sons would be taken for bondservants. Western readers should note that this desperate situation still arises in many parts of the world today. The creditor was within his rights under the law of Moses to enslave the debtors until the year of Jubilee.² There was no kinsman-redeemer to rescue the family by clearing their debt in this instance, so God, through His prophet Elisha, in effect took on this merciful role.³

In these narratives we may regard Elisha as a type of Christ. His name means ‘God is salvation’, and Jesus’ name means ‘Jehovah is salvation’. He is frequently designated a man of God, i.e., one who exercises the power of God, cp. 2 Kgs. 1. 10.⁴

Like Mary at the wedding at Cana who told the Lord, ‘They have no wine’, John 2. 3, the widow wisely put the situation to Elisha in faith. Clearly she enjoyed ready access to the man of God. This is even more blessedly true for the Christian. As Paul directs, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God’, Phil 4. 6 NKJV. Like the widow, it is best to simply state our needs; God’s solutions will regularly overturn our preconceived ideas and leave us awestruck at His ways. At the same time, God is no mere ‘emergency power’ to be called upon only in crises. Rather, habitual cultivation of the presence of God will mean that crises can be faced in faith, and in the grace and strength that He supplies.⁵

What hast thou in the house?

There is a remarkable principle in biblical miracles that God often chooses not to create from nothing but instead uses the little that is to hand. There are parallels here with Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil, cf. 2 Kgs 4. 2; 1 Kgs. 17. 14. Is it not encouraging to note that just as Elisha aspired to be Elijah’s undisputed successor, 2 Kgs. 2. 9, so here he is channelling the power of God in a similar way to his spiritual father? Famously, Christ fed the five thousand by receiving and blessing the lad’s humble fare of barley loaves and fish, John 6. 1-15. It is comforting to know that God can creatively use resources that seem very insignificant in our estimation.

The method of the miracle was then outlined to the widow, requiring a response of faith. She had to borrow empty vessels from her neighbours, ‘not a few’, 2 Kgs. 4. 3. Those vessels would each need to be empty and clean, if the oil were to avoid contamination, cp. 2 Tim. 2. 21. The value would be not in the presumably fragile vessels as such, but in the precious anointing oil which they would hold, cp. 2 Cor. 4. 7.

Private power

In this episode God was meeting the needs of Israel’s faithful remnant in times of apostasy. The miracle was not to be staged as a public event. ‘Shut the door’, 2 Kgs. 4. 4, was vital, and recalls Christ’s directions in Matthew chapter 6 verse 6. Just as piety is to be primarily developed in private, so God’s power and grace can be experienced.⁶ A private need was privately met by a sovereign and loving God.

To this day many of the Lord’s greatest works are totally unseen by the world, but it should experience the results. This runs contrary to worldly thinking, ancient and modern, that craves publicity and sensationalism, John 7. 3-5. The profound wonder of the incarnation itself is surely a case in point.

The directions of the man of God were met by simple and prompt obedience. The widow fully involved her sons who thus shared her exercise of faith. There is an exciting vividness about the participles of verse 5 NRSV, ‘they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring’. As she poured the oil, we discern a delightful abundance and liberality in God’s ways of working; there was no limitation on the divine grace, v. 6, only in their capacity to receive.

The vessels were filled, and the oil ceased to flow only when the last one had been presented. As in the cleansing of Naaman, Elisha was absent, thus putting the spotlight on the power of God alone and encouraging the family’s growth in faith.

In the context of the Philippians’ sacrificial gift to Paul, he could write, ‘my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus’, Phil. 4. 19. Sadly, our embrace of materialism has tended to bloat the list of what we might regard as our basic needs. By contrast, Paul could say, ‘having food and clothing, with these we shall be content’, 1 Tim. 6. 8 NKJV.

Go, sell the oil

It is instructive that directions were given to the widow in two stages. This is often so in the ways of God. Whereas we in our scepticism want to see the total picture, God will often grant further guidance based on our compliance with that given earlier. This principle is classically seen in the life of Abraham. Again, to the worldly mind it might have seemed obvious what to do with all the oil, but humbly she sought further instruction. She was directed to ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest’, v. 7 ESV. We should observe the primary importance of clearing the debts, thus honouring the God whom the family served, cp. Prov. 3. 27, 28. Thereafter they could use what remained for the family’s needs.

The miracle resolved the immediate crisis that the family faced, but there is no suggestion that the residual money lasted for ever after. The mercies of God in meeting difficult circumstances do not cancel the need to engage in honest hard work to meet one’s ongoing responsibilities, 1 Tim. 5. 8. A key lesson is that God will assuredly meet the basic needs of those who put His kingdom first, Matt. 6. 33.

It has been said that ‘God has more to do in us than He will ever do through us’. God not only met this beleaguered widow’s dire need, but He did so in a way that doubtless left her and her children marvelling at His tender and gracious provision.

‘Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then
Have nothing else to fear;
Make you His service your delight,
Your wants shall be His care’.

Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady