The divided kingdom · 2 Kings 4
Elisha and the Widow’s Oil
The widow of one of the sons of the prophets cries out to Elisha: her husband, who feared the LORD, has died, and the creditor is coming to take her two children as his slaves. “What do you have in the house?” the prophet asks. She has nothing at all, “except a jar of oil.” Elisha tells her to ask all her neighbors for empty vessels, “and do not ask for just a few.” Back at home, she shuts the door behind her and her sons and pours the oil into the vessels her children bring her. When they are all full, she asks for another; her son answers: “There is not a vessel more.” Then the oil stops. Elisha tells her: “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
What happens
- A widow cries out to Elisha: the creditor wants to take her two children 2 Kings 4:1
- “What do you have in the house?” — “Only a jar of oil” 2 Kings 4:2
- Elisha: ask all your neighbors for empty vessels 2 Kings 4:3
- With the door shut, she pours the oil into every vessel 2 Kings 4:4–5
- “There is not a vessel more”: the oil stops 2 Kings 4:6
- “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt” 2 Kings 4:7
Who is in this story
The lesson
God answers distress by starting with the little we have, and faith obeys even when the instructions seem strange. Here, the oil keeps flowing until there are no more vessels: God’s provision goes beyond the measure of our expectations.
And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
Quick quiz on this story
What does the widow have in her house when Elisha asks?
She answers, “Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.” The miracle begins with that one jar. 2 Kings 4:2
What does the widow’s creditor threaten to do?
Her appeal to Elisha: “the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.” 2 Kings 4:1
When does the oil stop flowing?
When the vessels are full, she asks for another; her son answers, “There is not a vessel more.” And the oil stayed. 2 Kings 4:6
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