A Desperate Mother

Bible Book: 2 Kings 4 : 1-7

Subject: Mother; Family; Parenting

Introduction

One of the most frustrating and frightening things that any family can face is to get under a mountain of debt with seemingly no way to repay it. Some of us have gotten a month or two behind on some bill and experienced the repetitious calls of the creditors who are trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip. Some may have even gone to the point where the creditor was threatening to foreclose on the house or repossess the car. A lot of folks have certainly gotten in dire straits financially.

Often people will seek financial help from the church or the pastor. I remember one fellow who called me one day asking for a handout. He described his situation in an interesting way. He said, “Preacher, I’m really up against it!”

You may have been in dire straits financially. And you may have even been ‘up against it.’ But I’m certain that none of us have ever been in a financial crisis that was as desperate as the woman mentioned in 2 Kings 4 verses 1 thru 7. You can almost hear the emotion and the desperation in her voice as the Bible tells us that she “cried” to Elisha and said “my husband is dead … and the creditor is come to take … my two sons to be bondmen.”

There was a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon years ago in which Calvin had come to his mom and said, “Mom, can I go outside?” His mom said, “No.” And Calvin said, “Why not?” She said, “You’ll get soaked.” And then he said, “What’s wrong with that?” His mom said, “You could catch pneumonia, run up a terrible hospital bill, linger a few months, and then die.” After this, Calvin takes a look outside the window and says to his companion, “I always forget; when you ask a mom, you get a worse-case scenario.”

I don’t believe this woman in 2 Kings 4 has overstated the extreme nature of her situation. She needed help!

I read about a woman who telephoned a friend and asked how she was feeling. “Terrible,” came the reply on the other end of the line. “My head’s splitting, and my back and legs are killing me. The house is a mess, and the kids are simply driving me crazy.” Very sympathetically the caller said, “Listen, go and lie down. I’ll come over right away and cook lunch for you, clean up the house, and take care of the children while you get some rest. By the way, how is Tom?” The complaining housewife said, “I don’t know anyone named Tom.” And the first woman exclaimed, “My goodness. I must have dialed the wrong number.” There was a long pause, and then the other woman said, “Are you still coming over?”

She needed help! And this woman in 2 Kings 4 needed help!

As we study this passage of scripture…

I. We Find A Mother With A Difficult Situation

A. Notice The Cry Of Her Soul

(2 Kings 4:1) 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 the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

Arthur Pink wrote…
Observe that in the opening words of 2 Kings 4 it is not said, “Now there came a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha” but “there cried a certain woman,” which indicates the pressure of her grief and the earnestness of her appeal to the prophet. Sometimes God permits His people to be brought very low in their circumstances; nor is this always by way of chastisement or because of their folly. We do not think that such was her case. The Lord is pleased to bring some to the end of their own resources that His delivering hand may be more plainly seen acting on their behalf.

cried – Hebrew 6817. tsa'aq, tsaw-ak'; a prim. root; to shriek; (by impl.) to proclaim (an assembly):-- X at all, call together, cry (out), gather (selves) (together).

cried – Hebrew OT:6818; This root means to call out for help under great distress or to utter an exclamation in great excitement. (From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)

B. Notice The Circumstances Of Her Sorrow

It was John Wileman who said that this “certain woman” was…
The subject of accumulated sorrow. Her condition was desolate. She was a widow. Few if any of the trying conditions of life are more pitiable than the widowed one. Her condition was oppressed. Her husband had died insolvent. She was in debt. Her sorrow was increased with the thought of the possibility of losing her sons. Trouble seldom comes alone. (From The Biblical Illustrator)

Hugh Macmillan colorfully wrote…
If we are to believe the voice of tradition as expressed by Josephus, the subject of this touching story was one who had seen far better days, being the widow of Obadiah, the Lord High Chamberlain of Ahab. While her husband lived she breathed the atmosphere of a court, and was nourished in the lap of luxury. But when he died she seems to have been reduced to the utmost poverty. That world which had smiled upon her in the days of her prosperity, now, with characteristic fickleness, turned its back upon her. Her friends forsook her, and refused to help her. (From The Biblical Illustrator)

Whoever the man was, he had been one “of the sons of the prophets” and someone whom Elisha knew as a “servant” who “did fear the LORD.” Sadly though, this woman said to Elisha, “Thy servant my husband is dead.” So then, her crisis has involved death. But as Mrs. O.F. Walton reminds us, “the story tells nothing of the funeral; it speaks of the scene that followed. The mourning friends have departed; (while) the chief mourners, the poor widow and her boys, are alone.”1

C. Notice The Claim On Her Sons

They were alone with their grief – until the creditor came. Working under the assumption that this was Obadiah’s widow, Josephus indicated “that these debts were contracted by her husband for the support of those ‘hundred of the Lord’s prophets, whom he maintained by fifty in a cave,’ in the days of Ahab and Jezebel.”2 “And,” writes Mrs. Walton, “now had come the expense of the funeral to add to the long list of debts that went before.”3 Many could sympathize with this poor woman in that her crisis has involved debt. But the burden becomes heavier, for she said, “the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.” Adam Clarke references Exodus 21:7 and Leviticus 25:39, and reminds us that, “Children, according to the laws of the Hebrews, were considered the property of their parents, who had a right to dispose of them for the payment of their debts. And in cases of poverty, the law permitted them, expressly, to sell both themselves and their children.”4 This widowed mother has not offered to sell her sons, but the creditor has demanded them as payment, and so her crisis has involved despair. As one writer put it, “How thick did the miseries of this poor afflicted woman light upon her! Her husband is lost, her estate clogged with debts, her children ready to be taken for slaves.”5 She was definitely in a difficult situation!

But not only do we find in this passage, A Mother With A Difficult Situation…

II. We Find A Man With A Divine Solution

The name “Elisha” means “God of supplication,” and it is in that vein that the woman comes. Rev. George Barlow reminds us that, “The miracle related in this paragraph indicates the sympathy of the prophet with the troubles and needs of human life,” and Elisha “stood as the representative of the compassionate Saviour.”6

A. His Plan For The Need Of This Family Involved The Solitary Provision

(2 Kings 4:2) 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.

The oil consistently speaks of the Holy Spirit. And this was all that she had.

James Hastings indicated that this was “a kind of oil which was used for anointing the body after a bath.”7 The Barnes’ Notes Commentary says that this “pot of oil” indicated “an anointing of oil” or “so much oil as would serve me for one anointing of my person.” The Keil and Delitzsch Commentary also says that the “pot of oil”… “means an anointing flask, a small vessel for the oil necessary for anointing the body.” Adam Clarke said, “Oil was used as aliment, for anointing the body after bathing, and to anoint the dead. Some think that this pot of oil was what this widow had kept for her burial.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary states that “Her little bit of oil was olive oil used for food and fuel.” Hamilton Smith said, “In the pot of oil there was the potential means provided by God to meet all her needs, and sustain her life.”

The oil then was used for the purpose of cleansing, nourishment, fuel, and preparing a body for burial. The Holy Spirit works this in our lives spiritually.

We may come to the point in our lives where we realize that God is all we have, but He is also all we need!

B. His Plan For The Need Of This Family Involved The Secret Place

(2 Kings 4:4) 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.

The activity within the shut door might suggest the prayer life of one “that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High” (Psalms 91:1). When we surrender what we have to God’s leadership and spend time in that secret place, alone with God, then the Holy Spirit can flow into the empty vessels in our lives.

Maybe after she went in and shut the door, she started quoting…
(Psalms 91:1-2) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. {2} I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

And then God started responding by saying…
(Psalms 91:14-16) Because he (or she) hath set his (or her) love upon me, therefore will I deliver him (or her): I will set him (or her) on high, because he (or she) hath known my name. {15} He (or she) shall call upon me, and I will answer him (or her): I will be with him (or her) in trouble; I will deliver him (or her), and honour him (or her). {16} With long life will I satisfy him (or her), and show him (or her) my salvation.

C. His Plan For The Need Of This Family Involved The Steady Pouring

(2 Kings 4:4) 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.

Hamilton Smith stated…
Here is one who wanted a blessing from God, and yet had nothing in her house save a pot of oil. Nevertheless, in the pot of oil there was the potential means provided by God to meet all her needs, and sustain her life. However, in order that God may use the oil, He needs empty vessels. The woman’s part was to provide the empty vessels, God will fill them. There was no lack in the supply of oil. The lack came on the woman’s side. The oil stayed because there was not a vessel more. Thus it is with the believer to-day who desires that all his spiritual needs may be met, and that he may enter upon the fullness of life. He has the power for this life in the gift of the Holy Spirit, of whom oil in Scripture is the constant type.

It was Charles Spurgeon who said…
The vessels failed before the oil; our powers of receiving will give out long before God’s power of bestowing. This is true in reference to our providential circumstances. So long as we have needs we shall have supplies, and we shall find our necessities exhausted far sooner than the divine bounty.

Not only do we find in this passage, A Mother With A Difficult Situation and A Man With A Divine Solution, but…

III. We Find A Message For The Desperate Saint

A. God’s Sufficiency Is Enough For The Deficiency In Our Lives

(2 Kings 4:3) Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

(2 Kings 4:6) 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.

Emptiness is such a prevalent factor in this woman’s life that she doesn’t even have any empty vessels in the house. She has to borrow empty vessels from her neighbors. But the sufficiency of God is so abundant that it can fill up the emptiness in my life, and it can fill up the emptiness in my neighbor’s life.

Your empty vessels may involve the deficiencies of youth – trying to fit in, a poor self-image, parental conflict, sibling rivalry, etc.

Your empty vessels may involve the deficiencies of being a young adult – getting established in your career, the struggles of marriage or the struggle of not being married, the struggle of having small children or the struggle of not having children, etc.

Your empty vessels may involve the deficiencies of adulthood – keeping the job that you have, the ongoing struggles of marriage, the increasingly complicated struggles of raising children, which may involve rebellious children or grandchildren.

Your empty vessels may involve the deficiencies of older adulthood – dealing with retirement, dealing with being a widow or a widower, dealing with declining health, dealing with the challenges of relationships with your grown children, and even facing death.

God is sufficient for all these empty vessels and more!
Spurgeon said, “A full Christ is for empty sinners.”

As Joseph Scriven wrote, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

B. God’s Sufficiency Is Enough For The Debt In Our Lives

(2 Kings 4:7) Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
Adam Clarke says of the fact that…

[The creditor is come] This, says Jarchi, was Jehoram son of Ahab, who lent money on usury to Obadiah, because he had in the days of Ahab fed the Lord's prophets. The Targum says he borrowed money to feed these prophets, because he would not support them out of the property of Ahab.

If this was the case, then a wicked authority was laying claim on her children.
It was not academic achievement that would keep the children out of bondage, i.e. honor roll, college prep courses, etc.

It was not cultural involvement that would keep the children out of bondage, i.e. musical instruction, knowing a foreign language, being knowledgeable of the current movies and television programs.

It was not extra-curricular pursuits that would keep the children out of bondage, i.e. sports, clubs, etc.

It was not social interaction that would keep the children out of bondage, i.e. peer groups or play groups.

No. In order to keep her children out of bondage, this mother had to follow the instruction of the man of God, and focus on the only commodity and resource that she had that would make any difference, and that was the oil (which again is a picture of the Holy Spirit – the spiritual influence, the things of God.)

C. God’s Sufficiency Is Enough For The Duration Of Our Lives

(2 Kings 4:7) Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

Elisha instructed the widow and her children to “live,” not merely to exist in fear, but to “live!” This word has the idea of being revived from sickness, discouragement, or death, and restored to life and health.

live – Hebrew 2421. chayah, khaw-yaw'; a prim. root [comp. H2331, H2424]; to live whether lit. or fig.; causat, to revive:--keep (leave, make) alive, X certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (X God) save (alive, life, lives), X surely, be whole.

Conclusion

Sometime around 1940, a Mississippi singing school teacher named J.B. Coats published a song in the Stamps-Baxter hymnal entitled “Where Could I Go?” The first verse goes like this: “Living below in this old sinful world; Hardly a comfort can afford; Striving alone to face temptations sore; Where could I go but to the Lord.” And then the chorus: “Where could I go, oh where could I go; Seeking a refuge for my soul; Needing a friend to help me in the end; Where could I go but to the Lord?”8

This poor widowed mother came to Elisha, but she was coming to him as the Lord’s representative. So in reality, she was coming to the Lord for help. Where else could she go but to the Lord? And where else can we go except to the Lord?

1 Mrs. O.F. Walton, Elisha The Man Of Abel-Meholah, The Religious Tract Society, pg. 97
2 William Whiston – Translator, The Works Of Josephus, Hendrickson Publishers, 1993, pg. 248
3 Mrs. O.F. Walton, Elisha The Man Of Abel-Meholah, The Religious Tract Society, pg. 97
4 From Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database, Copyright © 1996 by Biblesoft
5 Bishop Hall as quoted in The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary – Volume 8, Baker Books, 1996, pg. 413
6 Rev. George Barlow, The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary – Volume 8, Baker Books, 1996, pg. 408-409
7 James Hastings, The Greater Men And Women Of The Bible – Volume 3, T. & T. Clark, 1946, pg. 431
8 Information From The Following Website: http://www.filmsgraded.savantnetworks.com/elvis/1966/f082.htm