Responding to Needs

2 Kings 4:1-7 

In our study of the ministry of Elisha so far we have seen several very public miracles that he did. Do you recall what the very first one was, after he took over from Elijah? He struck the water of the Jordan with Elijah’s cloak, and the river divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. It says that the company of the prophets from Jericho were watching, and they said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” It was a public demonstration of God’s power, to establish Elisha’s authority as his prophet, reminiscent of Moses parting the Red Sea.

Then we have the healing of the water at Jericho, using salt, symbolizing the covenant faithfulness of God to His people, despite their disobedience. This miracle affected the drinking water supply for the entire town and made the land around it productive, so this was another highly-visible event, impacting many people. And last Sunday, Brian talked about the miracle of water suddenly flowing into the broad valley of the Arabah, allowing the thirsty armies to drink and appearing like blood to the Moabites, luring them into the confrontation with the Israelites that led to the destruction of Moab. This sign from the Lord via Elisha not only met an urgent, high-profile physical need for drinking water, but it seems to have given the Israelite armies courage to take on the Moabites and defeat them.

So we have God publicly establishing Elisha as His instrument to demonstrate His power and bring His word to His people. But now as we come to chapter 4 of 2 Kings we have a very different kind of miracle – God using Elisha in a very different way.

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”  2 Kings 4:1

On the heels of his high-level meeting with the three kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom, and seeing Moab devastated, Elisha is now confronted by a poor widow in desperate need. Her husband had been part of “the company of the prophets” that we have been reading about. Carl alluded to this, but just to reiterate, these were not prophets in the same sense as Elisha was a prophet, specially called by God to bring His word of judgment and salvation to His people. The “company of the prophets” or “sons of the prophets,” as it is literally, were just ordinary people who were serious about following God, living among other people who generally didn’t care or who had actually turned away from God. They were called prophets not because they brought special words from the Lord (like Moses or Samuel) but because their religious expression was called prophesying (sometimes ecstatic, perhaps like speaking in tongues). In Numbers 11, there is a story of this kind of prophesying when the Spirit of Lord coming upon 72 elders, at the time when the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness were complaining about not having meat to eat:

So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again. However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”  Number 11:24-29

So it’s not clear what this prophesying was like. It was some sort of verbal expression – a sign – of God’s Spirit coming upon a person, not completely under their control. It was something that came and went, since it says that the 70 elders only prophesied on this one occasion. And you may recall that King Saul prophesied in a similar manner, even as he was chasing David, trying to kill him.

So it’s a mysterious thing, but in any case it appears that the companies of the prophets referred to in these accounts of Elijah and Elisha were people who were trying to follow the Lord, in the midst of the general apostasy around them. God has always had a remnant of faithful followers. Moses said that he wished all the Lord’s people were prophets. In our day, too, we need more people who are serious about following the Lord, even in the church, and certainly in our society at large.

Back to our text.

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” 2 Kings 4:1

This widow was someone known to Elisha. He knew her situation and knew that her family was part of this faithful remnant trying to follow the Lord. He heard the desperation in her voice, probably bordering on despair. This family had revered the Lord and yet this disaster had befallen them. You have heard how in these days before life insurance and Social Security, widows were often destitute and despised; that is why there are so many verses in the Bible commanding us to take care of widows. All this woman had left were her two sons, and she was about to lose them, too. Do you feel the hopelessness of this situation, the weight of grief and pain that is weighing on this poor woman?

Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”  2 Kings 4:2a

I wonder if perhaps there was a pause in the middle of Elisha’s response here. “How can I help you?” Did Elisha say it sympathetically? How can I help you? Was he a little taken aback? How can I help you? What could he do with his limited resources? Have you ever felt that way when someone asked you for help? What can I do? We felt that way a lot when we lived in Bajhang – so many needs, so many impossible situations. It can be difficult to know how to help poor people sometimes. A handout is usually not the answer, at least not the complete answer.

One of the many people who came to our door in Bajhang was a widow named Bishnu Devi, shown here with 3 of her 6 children. Her husband, a school principal, had died a year or so before, falling off the path to their house as he came home drunk one evening. In Nepal, as it was in Bible times, it can be very difficult for widows. They are often blamed for their husbands’ deaths and can easily end up with no means of support. Bishnu Devi was fortunate to have some fields and animals and her house, so she was not completely destitute, but she did have a hard life providing for all her kids. For some reason, the kids seemed unusually naughty, not helping her much with the farm work and stealing the little money that she did have and spending it on frivolities. She would come in tears, despairing over her situation, and Lisa would listen and talk and pray with her. She had never heard of Jesus before. 

She did have a cow that gave a little milk, so we bought one liter per day from her at a good price to help her out, but told her that she also needed to be sure to feed some to her younger kids, too.  But then the cow dried up and missing that income, Bishnu Devi said that she wanted to buy a water buffalo, which would give much more milk for the same amount of work. Water buffaloes are very expensive in Bajhang (about $300) so we agreed to loan her the money and allow her to pay it back in milk. However, she looked and looked and couldn’t find a suitable buffalo. Many people were trying to cheat her because she was a widow. She finally gave up and returned the money that we had loaned her (which was quite amazing), and we didn’t see her for some months.  It wasn’t clear how she was making ends meet. We saw her a few times more before we left and helped her out with a few things and small amounts of money. She was always very friendly and not pushy, but we didn’t really know how to help her. She was just one of so many people we would have asked, along with Elisha, “How can I help you?”

It’s interesting to see what Elisha says next: “Tell me, what do you have in your house?” He starts with what the woman already has. This reminds me of a saying attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, much quoted in community development work:

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, and the task is accomplished, the people will say "We have done it ourselves."

You can understand why this principle is important in development work. Unless people “own” what is happening and feel responsible for the changes that are coming into their lives, there will be no lasting change in their situation. So many poverty alleviation efforts in the world have amounted to little more than handouts, creating dependency and stifling initiative rather than encouraging it. That is why we have to start with and build on what people already have, rather than just giving them what they don’t have.

Take, for example, the effort to build toilets in Bajhang. When we went there, only 11% of the people in the district had access to a toilet. Various programs had tried to build toilets for the people, but they were not very successful. They built some beautiful toilets, but many of these were not used, except as storerooms for food, since the construction was of much better quality than that of people’s houses. It was much more effective to take the time at the beginning to convince the people of their need for a toilet – the benefits of having one – and then to show them how to build a simple one using local materials. Then, when people got used to using it, the next step was to show them how to upgrade it to make it more permanent and easier to keep clean. Start with what people already have to work with and help them build on it. This is the foundation for sustainability and lasting change.

God was the originator of this principle. I think of Moses at the burning bush, arguing with God that the people may not believe that God has sent him. God asks him, “What is that in your hand?” What did Moses have? His staff – a very ordinary, familiar thing. God used what Moses already had, to miraculously demonstrate His power. And God asks us the same question today, as we seek to serve Him: What do you already have? You need to use what I have already given you.

So Elisha asks the widow, “What do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” 2 Kings 4:2b

The woman had completely exhausted her resources, except for this small jar of oil. It may not have been very big. It may have looked something like these, which were found near Jerusalem and Jericho and date from the time of Elisha (around 900 BC). I don’t know how authentic these are – the one on the left is for sale on Ebay right now for $90 – but they are about this big, just 4 or so inches tall, so they would not have held much oil.

Oil was a valuable thing. Not only did it provide calories and make food more palatable, it had many other uses, including ceremonial ones, such as anointing of priests and kings. As such, oil is rich in symbolism. Because of its use in anointing and for illumination, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments. Isaiah 61, for example, makes this connection:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me (here is the connection between anointing and the Spirit) to proclaim good news to the poor. (just like Elisha was about to bring good news to this widow) He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives (like the widow’s sons who were about to be sold as slaves) and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, (like the widow mourning the loss of her husband) and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy (oil being associated with blessing and celebration) instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:1-3

Another great example is the verses from Psalm 45 that are quoted in Hebrews 1 and applied to Jesus:

But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” Psalm 45:8-9

Before His crucifixion, Jesus promised the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit as their Comforter. And when the Holy Spirit did come at Pentecost, the anointing appeared as tongues of fire above the disciples’ heads. The flames may have looked like those of the little lamps that ordinary people used, powered by oil. So people would have had a close association between the anointing, comforting, healing, joyful, celebratory aspects of oil and the purifying, directing, illuminating, empowering, and refining aspects of fire. These all come together in the wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

As an aside here, I would like to pick up again on one of the things that Brian mentioned last Sunday: the storing away of sin rather than dealing with it properly. He mentioned the idol of Baal that, although it hadn’t been in use hadn’t been destroyed. I also think of the many times during that era where it says that the king did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but “the high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.” There were little ways in which the people compromised. They did not follow the Lord wholeheartedly. For each and every one of us as well there are times when we put our sin in a closet and shut the door rather than throwing it out with the trash. We do something wrong and think, Oh well, there I did it again; never mind, God will forgive me. Instead we need to take the practical steps to make sure that we don’t do it again. And for that we need the discernment and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, the Refiner’s Fire. We can’t live without it.

So it is significant that it was oil that the widow had. She had only a small amount, like the mustard-seed faith that she had clung to in the midst of her adversity. This treasure was in an earthen vessel, to show that the all-surpassing power was from God and not from her or from Elisha.

Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.  2 Kings 4:3

God wanted to do something big, and He didn’t want a half-hearted response. He wanted to be able to bless her beyond what seemed reasonable. Elisha had asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, just an outlandish request! Now he was expecting oil in abundance. Elisha was not one for half measures. Even at the end of his life (in Chapter 13) he was looking for total commitment and dedication:

Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.” Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” 2 Kings 13:14-19

Somehow this was a half hearted response. And it made Elisha angry. Sometimes I think we set our sights too low when we anticipate what God wants to do in and through us. You have probably heard the famous quote from William Carey, pioneer missionary to India: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” It answers the question, What do we do and what does God do? We have faith and we give it our all. William Carey is known as the father of modern Protestant missions. He battled incredible hardships, with his children dying, his wife literally going crazy, harassment by the authorities, betrayal by friends, and yet God used him to start a great missionary movement in India, extending into many other countries. His witness and example inspired hundreds, if not thousands of other people to become missionaries in a day when many Christians were saying, “If God wants to save the heathen, then he will do it.” In Carey’s 41 years in India, he and the people working for him translated the entire Bible into 6 major languages and sections of the Bible into 209 Indian languages. His was not a half-hearted response to God’s call. Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.

Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 2 Kings 4:4

As I said at the start, this miracle was not intended to be a public spectacle. It was an intimate experience of God’s love and care and provision for this desperate woman. God wanted to show her that He cared for her as an individual, that He knew what she was going through and He wanted to help her, not just as an example to others or to demonstrate His power to the world. And her sons – what do think it meant for their faith? They saw their own deliverance from the horrors of servitude.

She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 2 Kings 4:5-6

They provided the vessels, and God provided the oil. God limited His provision to the vessels that they brought. In the same mysterious way, God has chosen to limit His kingdom work in the world by using His people, you and me, to accomplish His purposes. It reminds of that old song that says, “You’re the only Jesus that some will ever see.” I’m not sure that I completely agree with that, but it does make you think about our responsibility as God’s ambassadors.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” 2 Kings 4:7

The widow and her sons could live. Carl has mentioned how Elisha’s ministry was a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do. In this instance I think of Jesus raising the son of the widow in Nain in Luke 7. Elisha provided for the livelihood of this widow and her sons, and in the very next story here in 2 Kings he raises the Shunammite’s son; Jesus gave new life to the son of a widow and conquered death forever in His own resurrection. We have Elisha bringing abundant oil, yielding joy and hope, and we have Jesus ushering in the new ministry of the Holy Spirit in believers’ lives.

So what do we do and what does God do? We bring the jars; he provides the oil. He is willing to fill all the jars that we have. Are we willing to believe Him for his abundant provision?