Making room for miracles 

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours; empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels and set aside the full ones.”

So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So, the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons live on the rest.”

a. The creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves: This woman, the widowed wife of one of the sons of the prophets, had debts and no means to pay them. The legal system in Israel would not allow her to declare bankruptcy; she had to give her sons as indentured servants to her creditor as payment for the debts.

b. Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil: There is some evidence that this jar of oil was not a larger supply held for cooking but a smaller vessel that held only oil for anointing.

c. Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours: Elisha made this woman commit herself in faith to God’s provision. To borrow vessels in this manner invited awkward questions, but she did as the word of God through His prophet commanded her.

She did what she was commanded to do: she did it in faith, and the result answered the end. God takes care to deliver his servants in ways that exercise their faith. He would not have them be little in faith, for faith is the wealth of the heavenly life.

You have God in the measure in which you desire Him. Remember that the desire to bring God must be more than a feeble, fleeting wish. Wishing is one thing; willing is quite another. Lazily wishing and strenuously desiring are two entirely different postures of mind; the former gets nothing, and the latter gets everything, gets God, and with God, all that God can bring.

d. Pour it into all those vessels and set aside the full ones: Elisha told the woman to take what she had – one jar of oil (all that she had) – and pour that out in faith into the borrowed vessels. As she did this, the oil miraculously kept pouring from the original vessel until all the borrowed vessels were filled. At the end of it, she had a lot of oil.

We notice that Elisha made her do this. Perhaps Elisha was tempted to gather the vessels and pour the oil himself, but he knew she had to trust God.

The original vessel of oil – the one the woman had in her house – was a smaller vessel that held only oil for anointing. This means that the distribution of the oil into the other vessels required constant pouring and allowing the oil to fill the small vessel again supernaturally.

The vessels also had to be empty before they could be filled with oil. It did no good to bring the widow full vessels. “A full Christ is for empty sinners, and for empty sinners only, and as long as there is a really empty soul in a congregation, so long will a blessing go forth with the word, and no longer. It is not our emptiness but our fullness that can hinder free grace's outgoings.

e. So the oil ceased: The miracle was given according to the measure of her previous faith in borrowing vessels. She borrowed enough so the excess oil was sold and provided money to pay the debt to the creditor and to provide for the future. Had she borrowed more, more would have been provided; had she gathered less, less would have been provided.

If she borrowed few vessels, she would have but little oil; if she borrowed many vessels, they should all be filled, and she should have much oil. She was herself to measure out what she should have, and I believe that you and I, in the matter of spiritual blessings from God, have more to do with the measurement of our mercies than we think. We make our blessings little because our prayers are little.

The oil did not pour out on the ground or simply flow about. It was intended for a prepared vessel. Each vessel had to be prepared by being gathered, assembled, emptied, put in the right position and staying in the right position. When there was no more prepared vessel, the oil stopped.

The principle of this miracle was the same as the principle of the ditches dug in the previous chapter. The amount of man’s work with the miracle determined the amount of blessing and provision actually received. God’s powerful provision invites our hard work and never excuses laziness.