“Bring Me Yet a Vessel”
When the widow of the sons of the prophets was destitute of food and cried to Elisha for help, he said to her, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed” (2 Kings 4:3-63Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. (2 Kings 4:3‑6)).
We have here in this story what the grace of God can do for a bereaved family. The pride or self-will of man opposes grace. But with this family there are no unbelieving questions or independence of God. The prophet enters into her sorrows and brings her into touch with the fullness of the grace of God. Things were all wrong in Israel, for God had been forsaken and His covenant broken, yet was He visiting His people in grace, and it was for faith to seize the opportunity to count upon Him in its confession of the whole sad truth without concealment.
The Fullness of Grace
We see in the New Testament that the fullness of grace came by Jesus Christ. “Wisdom hath builded her house” and furnished it sumptuously, providing abundantly for the need of all within it. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is to a risen and glorified Christ at God’s right hand. In Acts 2 the work of the Holy Spirit was of such a character as made its way to the hearts of those who had before despised and refused it. “The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:32-3332And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:32‑33)).
The Holy Spirit
The power and grace which produced these blessed results in the early days of the church’s history still remain, though the same effect may not now be seen. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in His action and, according to the Lord’s own word, abides with us forever since Pentecost, for as long as the assembly is here, where His power and grace are needed, He remains with us. Elisha’s instructions to the distressed woman reveal the character of God’s usual way of acting when appeal is made to Him. He will have His own really exercised about the need, but we have to learn that our sufficiency is of God, who works according to His marvelous patience and infinite wisdom. He may revive long-forgotten truths in all their original power and freshness within our hearts, just at the moment they are really needed, or He may set us down to learn the value and application to ourselves of scriptures we had long professed to believe and know as expressive of the doctrines of Christianity. But the challenge, “What hast thou in the house?” sets us thinking and casts us upon that which God has given. And is not this truth peculiarly applicable in the present day, since God has given now in Christianity all that He ever will or can give for this poor ruined world? All is presented in the gospel, which if refused today will form the ground of judgment in another day.
From the standpoint of the Christian position, a completely new and unexpected development of grace is presented, in connection with Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit on earth. What is most needed for us, then, is for us to pour out the oil— this abundant supply of the Holy Spirit which God has given us and which we have in “the house” (the church). Let us in simple faith and obedience bring empty vessels into the house and shut the door. God will fill the vessels.
Fill Them All
“When thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full” (vs. 4). They are set apart—consecrated. Righteousness is vindicated, the creditor is paid in full, the lawful captive is delivered, and there remains an infinite reserve of grace, which we can never exhaust. The oil kept flowing until there were no more vessels—a beautiful illustration, surely, of divine grace in the manner of its present working and everyday application to the personal needs of God’s people and connecting itself most blessedly with the Lord’s gracious consideration for us in this present scene of disorder and ruin.
G. S. Byford (adapted)