A Widow, A Pot Of Oil, And God

C) I can imagine the raised eyebrows of Mrs. Jacobson. * Surely she is glad to let her widowed

neighbor borrow some vessels, but what in the world is she gonna do with so many?

* Fill them with oil? * But where will the oil come from? Out of that one little pot of oil she has?

* Then the explanation! * The prophet of God said she should get plenty of vessels and that God

would fill them all! * And she could sell enough to pay all of her debts!

D) Some of the neighbors probably laughed at her! * Another would smile and say,

* "She’s off her rocker, she’s lost it." * Some probably insisted that she must not depend on

such foolishness, that prophet aint right, she ought not listen to him like that .......!

E) And I can imagine that as the widow and her sons brought all the vessels home to the bare house,

fear gripped the widow’s heart and she thought she would surely die of shame,

* If she had to carry all those vessels back & tell all the curious, gossipy neighbors that after all,

God did not furnish oil to fill them all.

F) She had faith in God and in the prophet of God! * God wants empty vessels, He can fill ’em!

* Some people are not filled with the Holy Spirit! * Perhaps the reason is that they have not been

emptied of other things!

* The cares of this world & the deceitfulness of riches so choke the Word that it becomes unfruitful!

* And too much to eat at the tables of this world means that one does not feed upon the manna

from heaven! * May we, like this poor widow woman in the days of Elisha,

* Get empty vessels & set them down where God can fill them with oil!

(4) THE MIRACLE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS! * Elisha said to the widow in v.4 .......

* This miracle and work of faith was not to be seen by outsiders!

* It may be that some of the neighbors from whom the vessels were borrowed, never quite

believed that God had multiplied the oil so that it filled all the vessels!

A) Were there any witnesses besides the family?

* Plenty of people in the community, no doubt, thought that the age of miracles was past since

they themselves never saw one! * Are there miracles in the world today?

* If there are, they don’t happen before the annual meeting of the American Association For The

Advancement Of Science!

B) You can be sure that in most cases where God heals the body of some humble Christian,

wonderfully releasing him from the pain and giving health and strength,

* There is no committee of Doctors present to see the miracle take place!

C) When Jesus would raise from the dead the little daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, the

people laughed Him to scorn. * But when He had put them all out,

* He taketh the father & mother of the damsel & them that were with Him & entereth in where

the damsel was lying and Jesus raised her from the dead - Mark 5:40

D) When Peter was sent forth to pray over the dead body of Dorcas, we are told in Acts 9:40,

* "But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said,

Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up."