Post by disciple on Jun 5, 2010 11:24:44 GMT -5
2 Kings 4:1-7 notes
I. the widow’s request (v. 1)
A woman came to Elisha with a problem:
-her human provision (husband) was gone
-the creditor was coming to take her children (and likely, her) under bondage by law
-she felt responsibility for her children but didn’t know how she could provide
Lev. 25:39-41 shows that they would have eventually been free in the year of jubilee, but she wanted them to live in freedom now (like a believer who will be free in eternity but should seek to be free now, Jewish concept of “salvation in this life”)
II. Elisha’s question (v. 2)
Elisha: “I’d like to help—what do you have?”
Widow: “nothing but a flask of oil.” (Christian who realizes they have nothing to work from but the Spirit)
-When our human provision “dies” and we admit that we have nothing of value but the Spirit, God can do a miracle.
III. Elisha’s command (v. 3-4): MAKE YOURSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMEBODY ELSE’S EMPTINESS!
She was to borrow as many vessels as she could, from all over. They had to be empty vessels, for these are the kind God uses. The way for you & others to be free is to pour the Spirit into somebody else fully, just as the jars were to be filled fully.
-Conditions of the filling process:
-Done at home—a common place, didn’t require a “vessel filling building”
-Done behind closed doors—the process is often barely noticeable, few know about it
-Done with her sons watching—she modeled this for others, who would then understand the source, process, and purpose of their freedom
IV. the widow’s obedience (v. 5-6)
-sons brought the vessels, her job was to fully fill them
-the degree of faith her sons showed in seeking vessels to invest in determined the degree of the miracle
-the Spirit will keep flowing, as long as He has someone else to flow into
V. the result (v. 7)
-She (presumably) sent out the vessels and received, in the “backlash,” what she & her children needed for freedom & abundant life.
-Vessels aren’t ours to keep, they’re to be with us that we might send them out (Mk. 3:14). Without sending, there is no freedom.
-The sons whose needs were now met could now mature to one day meet her needs.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” --Gal. 5:1