In 2 Kings 3 we have Elisha ministering to the necessities of kings; in 2 Kings 4:1-7 he ministers to a widow and her sons, for there is room in the divine compassions for both the exalted and the lowly. Remarkably both Elijah and Elisha had dealings with a widow, and in each case a little oil in a vessel constituted an important item in their worldly possessions.
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondsmen” (2 Ki. 4:1). A pitiful story is here, a story suggestive of the meditations which drove Asaph to the very verge of infidelity (Ps. 73). That the godly should suffer while the ungodly prosper has frequently been a sore puzzle to tried hearts. In the present case the widow laid emphasis upon the fact that her husband feared Jehovah, yet he had been snatched from her by death, with no remainder but debts, slavery for her children being the only possible result, so far as the eye could see. Unbelief is apt to cry in such circumstances, “All these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36); faith quietly says, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
The greater the emergency, the greater the opportunity for God to show Himself on behalf of His people. When the men of Israel magnified the prowess of the nations of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb, true men of faith, said, “Thee are bread for us; Jehovah is with us; fear them not” (Num. 14:9). Bread indeed! for every difficulty surmounted by faith in God yields strength and nourishment to the soul. Our wonder-working God is able to make the eater yield meat, and the strong one sweetness (Judg. 14:14). It is a great reality to have to do with God. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).
The widow of our chapter proved the truth of this most blessedly. Let us note that in her trouble she sought the aid of “the man of God.” This is a title more frequently applied to Elisha than to any other person named in Holy Scripture. Seventy times we read of “the man of God” in the Old Testament, twenty-two of the passages referring to Elisha. What are we to understand by the title! Is it the equivalent of “saint,” and therefore applicable to every man born of the Spirit? The Spirit’s sparing use of the term forbids the thought. It is first applied to Moses in Deuteronomy 33:1. This gives us the key to its meaning. Moses was one who cut himself entirely adrift from the world, renouncing absolutely all its honors and advantages in order that he might be wholly for God. Only persons of this stamp may rightly be regarded as men of God. In the midst of general ruin and departure, the man of God is God’s emergency instrument. It is open to us all to be in this blessed position, if so our hearts desire. The Church in these days needs men of God.
But what had Elisha for the distressed widow? Nothing, as far as his own resources were concerned, and yet he more than met her need. He could have said with the apostle, “As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10).
And what have we wherewith to meet the need of souls? The amount contained in our pockets is a small matter; the question is, what have we in our hearts! Blessed be God, we have that enshrined there which is capable of meeting every form of human necessity. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Our hearts have thus been illuminated by the knowledge of God, and from us that knowledge should radiate to others. Herein lies an immense opportunity for spiritual usefulness in a dreary world.
But Elisha asked the woman, “What hast thou in the house?” She replied, “Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.” But there were great potentialities in the pot of oil, though the widow knew it not. Whatever else we lack, every Christian has his pot of oil. In other words, every Christian has the power of the Holy Spirit within him. Let us use it in faith, and all our difficulties become as nothing. So the widow must beg empty vessels of her neighbors—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.”
Picture the scene in that humble house. What had the widow to look upon that day? Just a small vessel of oil, a number of empty receptacles, and two poor orphan lads earmarked for slavery. This was what the eye saw, but there was something else that no natural sight could behold—God. In Matthew 6:1-18 we are taught that the Father’s eye is upon us, and in verses 19-34 that our eye should, in consequence, be solely upon Him. In this is rest and peace.
Now observe a remarkable thing. The oil flowed while a vessel remained to take it. It was only when the son said “there is not a vessel more” that the oil stayed. What a lesson is here! The blessing is limited by man only. In 2 Kings 3 the kings obtained water according to the depth of the ditches that were prepared. In 2 Kings 13:18 Joash, King of Israel, missed the opportunity of his life, when in the presence of the dying prophet, and with full knowledge that the actions of that day were significant, he smote upon the ground thrice only. This meant three victories over his enemies instead of total annihilation. Abraham, in Genesis 18, when making intercession for the guilty cities of the plain, paused at ten persons. though God had given no indication of weariness in listening to His servant’s voice. Alas! alas! It is always man who limits the blessing.
Oft we credit not, that God e’er gives as God
But the widow’s need was now met, so the prophet bade her, “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” Brethren, we have a debt to discharge, which only the power of the Spirit can enable us to discharge. Paul felt this deeply in Romans 1:14: “I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.” How he paid the debt is described in Romans 15:19: “Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ.” How far have we entered into the spirit of the devoted apostle, as expressed in these words! The cold principle of formal ministerialism has doubtless damaged the zeal of many a child of God. What is needed is to get our souls so divinely full of the things that we profess to believe that our lips must speak. Like Peter and John when they said to the Jewish council, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Like Paul again, when he exclaimed in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “We believe, and therefore speak.” Men who are profoundly convinced of the truth of the Christian verities, and who are persuaded of men’s deep need of the knowledge of them, will surely seek to “repay their debt.” And for this the power of the Spirit is divinely sufficient.
But Elisha added, “Live thou and thy children of the rest.” Testimony to others, however important, is not everything. There is a life to be lived, with all its hard facts and varied circumstances. For this none of us possesses the smallest power in ourselves. But the power of the Spirit of God is our competency. It enables us to worship, suffer, and bear fruit at all seasons. “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).