A poor widow came to Elisha after her husband died. She was in desperate need of any help the prophet could give her. She cried out to him, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves” (2 Kings 4:1).
Before we look at some lessons from the help that Elisha gave this widow, it is important to first notice a couple of facts about her deceased husband. The text states that he was one of the “sons of the prophets,” a servant to Elisha. Furthermore, his widow testified that he “feared the Lord” (2 Kings 4:1). This was not a worthless or wicked individual. He was a faithful servant of God and His prophet.
As we read the account of Elisha helping this poor widow, we see that God made provision for her – she was miraculously given enough oil to fill every container she was able to borrow from her neighbors. She was then able to sell the oil, solving her great financial dilemma (2 Kings 4:2-7).
Now, let us notice a few lessons from this story.
Serving God is not about physical prosperity – Some are deceived into thinking that “godliness is a means of gain” (1 Timothy 6:5). Yet we are told to be content with merely “food and covering” (1 Timothy 6:8), choosing rather to “store up…treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). Others believe that preaching the gospel is a path to prosperity. Certainly, God’s design is for “those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14), but that must not be the preacher’s goal (Philippians 4:15-17; Acts 20:33-34). The preacher’s goal is simply to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort” and to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:2, 5). This servant of Elisha was faithful to God, yet he died poor and left his family in debt. We may be richly blessed from a material standpoint as we serve God (1 Timothy 6:17), or we may not. In either case, we must focus on the “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20).
We must use the blessings we have – This widow needed two things to survive and keep her family together: food and money. The food would be necessary to live on. The money was for paying off her debt so that the creditor would not enslave her children. Yet God did not miraculously provide food or money – He provided oil. This could then be sold and the money gained from the sale could be used to buy food and pay the creditor. The Scriptures teach us that all of our blessings come from God (James 1:17). Yet the simple reality is that we have all been blessed differently. We have different talents, resources, and circumstances (cf. Matthew 25:14-30). This goes back to the principles of stewardship and work. We must use whatever we have and do whatever we can do to provide for ourselves (cf. Acts 18:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8).
We must pay back our debts – The wise man warned about debt: “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7). We are reminded that debt should be avoided if possible. Of course, there are some times when it is not possible to avoid debt and other times when one foolishly gets into debt and must deal with the consequences. But it is important to notice what Elisha told this woman to do regarding her debt. He did not discuss the possibility of bankruptcy or of appealing for some sort of debt forgiveness or reduction. Instead he simply told her, “Sell the oil and pay your debt,” and then after that, her family could “live on the rest” (2 Kings 4:7). If we are in debt, we have an obligation to pay off that debt. It is important for us to do this, even today, lest we become “the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7).
