Sunday Morning Service (II Kings 4)

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II Kings 4

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“The God Who Can't Fail” • 6.4.17 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- The author of Second King has our attention focused upon the work of the prophet Elisha. He is ministering in Israel, among the 10 northern tribes, where the majority of the people are idolators.

- Yet, within that spiritually corrupted place, Elisha continues to come to the aid of God's people, the faithful remnant, who always seem to struggle with survival.

- Our text this week will illustrate just how far God will go to ensure that they do! Verse 1.

Text

• II Kings 4:1,2 : "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.'" : The author takes us from the Kings at the front line of a national battle to the front porch of a woman who is recently widowed. God meets with the privileged and the powerless!

- This woman's husband was one of the sons of the prophets. He was a disciple, a member of the company that Elisha was now overseeing.

- Her husband was a good servant with a testimony for having a strong fear of the Lord, but without much in the bank at his death!

- Josephus claims that this man is Obadiah, who was known for his fear of the Lord when he hid 100 hundred prophets from Jezebel's murderous campaign. (I Kings 18:3,4)

- Whether this is Obadiah's widow or not, a person without means of paying a debt, would be forced into bondservice. If the debt was great, her children would follow.

- According to the Mosaic law, that was a 6 year sentence. (Exodus 21)

- While it was not as harsh as other forms of slavery throughout history, it certainly wasn't desirable and this woman's desperation in coming to Elisha reveals that.

- Elisha's response is one of warm sympathy. Between his initial reply and his next sentence, I can almost hear God telling him to ask what is in her home.

- Judging by her response, she quickly comprehends that Elisha is referring to anything of monetary value. She's tracking with him, but all she is has is one small jar, a flask of annointing oil.

- Beside that singular object, she presently asserts that there is nothing with resale value within her home. Verse 3.

• II Kings 4:3,4 : "Then he said, 'Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—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.'" : Elisha is quick to dispense the Lord's wisdom to the woman. Notice that she will need to act.

- As with the armies in chapter 3, who had to dig ditches with no sign of rain, so the woman in chapter 4 will have to collect vessels with no sign of comparable production.

- She is to borrow empty bowls, jars, pitchers and the like from all of her neighbors, as many as she could procure. Nobody could help in any other way.

- When all was ready, she was to go into her home, alone with her sons and begin to pour that little reserve of oil into the jars, setting aside the ones that were full.

- What would you have said to this man? "How much oil do you think I have Elisha?" "What kind of plan is this?" Verse 5.

• II Kings 4:5-7 : "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.'" : Here is the testament to her desperation and indeed to her faith. Three words: "So she went!"

- She didn't stand and complain at the labor intensity. She didn't raise her voice to argue. She wouldn't dare offer another idea, for she had none! She had come to him!

- When he offered this incredibly difficult to believe, yet, simple to achieve task, she received it as it was intended: A God given order! She has no other recourse but to follow, which she did.

- The best of our faith's stories follow this same narrative path. Our heroes are given their orders and with the next available breath, are out the door obeying as they go forward believing!

- Would that be your testimony? I pray it would be so! For this woman and her sons, it was her obedience which opened the door for their provision.

- Imagine this woman grabbing her boy's hands and looking in their eyes. "I know this seems foolish, but Elisha, God's representative, told us to do this. Let's do this with all our hearts!"

- To their credit, her boys are right there with her, bringing her every vessel they had until they had no more. When that final vessel reached capacity, the oil stopped.

- The miraculous provision was only limited by the amount of jars collected!

- The voice of desperation says, "I have nothing in my house." The Lord reminds us that even if that were the case, He is an expert at making something from nothing!

- God moved in a miraculous way to provide for the widow that cried out to Him! Verse 8.

• II Kings 4:8-10 : "Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. And she said to her husband, 'Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.'" : On his way inland from Mt. Carmel, Elisha encounters this notable woman. The word refers to nobility or greatness.

- She is living on the other side of the spectrum from the widow of verses 1-7. This woman is a woman of means and is both persuasive and powerful.

- She is able to prevail upon Elisha to stop by for some food and then convinces her husband that a room addition was in order! Elisha would stay there many times. Verse 11.

• II Kings 4:11-17 : "And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, 'Call this Shunammite woman.' When he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, 'Say now to her, ‘Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ She answered, 'I dwell among my own people.' So he said, 'What then is to be done for her?' And Gehazi answered, 'Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.' So he said, 'Call her.' When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. Then he said, 'About this time next year you shall embrace a son.' And she said, 'No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant!' But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her." : Elisha's query to the woman wasn't indicative of a desire to repay her kindness. Elisha simply wanted to bless her back!

- He has the capability of talking with Jehoram. That King owes Elisha after chapter 3.

- Perhaps the last standing captain of the army that Elisha didn't have set on fire could help!

- She's not a woman that has ever had much need. "I dwell among my own people." She has access to everything that she could desire. What do you get someone who has everything?

- Gehazi, whose name is connected with "vision," sees that the woman's unrequested need was a son to take over the family business.

- When Gehazi said this, a light went on for Elisha, who then promises the woman a child. The woman understandably has a hard time believing his promise, especially given her husband's age.

- They have been done for years! But just as Elisha had said, she gave birth to her first and only son. What a fantastic story! The Lord gives the woman an heir. Verse 18.

• II Kings 4:18-25a : "And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. And he said to his father, 'My head, my head!' So he said to a servant, 'Carry him to his mother.' When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. Then she called to her husband, and said, 'Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.' So he said, 'Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.' And she said, 'It is well.' Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, 'Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.' And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel." : The harvest season was in full swing and the woman's child is old enough to "help" Dad. When he complained of a head ache, his Father's servant carried him back to the house.

- It apparently wasn't very serious at first glance or the Father was incredibly preoccupied. For the better part of a few hours, Mom watched over her son until he died at noon!

- When he passed, she laid him on Elisha's bed. Generally speaking, a dead body is buried the same day in Israel. Elisha's room would be a good place to hold the body privately.

- Not informing her husband gives her the chance to go straight to Elisha to see what he might do or say. She gets on her fastest donkey and makes for Mt. Carmel. Verse 25.

• II Kings 4:25b-27 : "So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, 'Look, the Shunammite woman! Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ And she answered, 'It is well.' Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, 'Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me.'" : This woman is resolute in her decision to speak only to Elisha. When she sees him it all comes spilling out!

- She caught him by the feet and would not let him go. Gehazi tries to protect Elisha, but he won't reprimand her. He's surprised that the Lord hadn't revealed this to him before this moment.

- Generally, as we have seen, Elisha has an acute sense when it came to hearing the Lord's voice. God wanted Elisha to be completely surprised. Verse 28.

• II Kings 4:28-31 : "So she said, 'Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?' Then he said to Gehazi, 'Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child.'  And the mother of the child said, 'As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' So he arose and followed her. Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, 'The child has not awakened.'" : All of her feelings, all of her pent up frustration is let out in one moment. She hadn't asked for a child. Why would God give the promise of a son and then rip it away from her.

- This is the voice of pain which exhibits our ability to consider anything other than our own present comfortablity or happiness as a curse! Christianity is all roses and no thorns right!?

- We wrongfully assume that the blessings of this life are meant to last until some undisclosed time. Children are not supposed to die before their parents. People should live into their 90's.

- This has never been promised to us, but we presume that God must hold to that agreement!

- This woman, rightfully so, is in an incredible amount of pain and anguish. Unfortunately, her words are thoughtless. Elisha doesn't turn her away. He doesn't correct her. He walks with her!

- Gehazi is sent to run and when Elisha's instructions prove to be ineffective, he runs back to report the bad news. Verse 32.

• II Kings 4:32-37 : "When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi and said, 'Call this Shunammite woman.' So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, 'Pick up your son.' So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out." : Elisha comes into this home that he has entered dozens, maybe hundreds of times over the years.

- He comes up to the room that had been built for him and sees his bed occupied by the boy, whose presence he prophecied and whose life he had observed. There he lays dead.

- When he closed the door, he prayed and God instructed that he lay right on top of the child. The first time, the child's body simply warms up.

- Elisha took a break and walked around the house for a bit. The Mother and Gehazi are just watching him, wondering what he is doing.

- When he returns to the room, he takes the same action. At this the child sneezed seven times, hopefully with Elisha at a safe distance, and was revived to the elation of his waiting mother!

- Instead of a death in the family, there was a resurrection in the family! Verse 38.

• II Kings 4:38-40 : "And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, 'Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.' So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, 'Man of God, there is death in the pot!' And they could not eat it." : The scene shifts back to Gilgal in the north and the proposed pot-luck of the prophets. The famine is a consequence.

- Israel's continued it's loyalty to idolatrous worship, despite it's obvious impotence. Unfortunately, the righteous are not given a pass. They must endure the effects of the famine as well!

- They have to search out their own food just as much as their neighbors.

- The scene is fairly comical, in that a stew is ordered, which is flavored by some locally sourced, highly sustainable, herbs and what seem to be a vine of a cucumber like vegetable.

- Unfortunately, this is an inedible and incredibly toxic vegetable which has been sliced and poured into the entire stew! Soon, it became clear that there was death in the pot!

• II Kings 4:41 : "So he said, 'Then bring some flour.' And he put it into the pot, and said, 'Serve it to the people, that they may eat.' And there was nothing harmful in the pot." : Elisha looked into the pot and asked that some flour, some meal be brought to him. When they brought the flour, he introduced that into the pot.

- He didn't clear out the contents of the pot or even seek to remove the specific gourds that caused the problem. He just allowed the flour to settle in.

- After a few minutes of watching, the results spoke for themselves. The men were eating and nobody was harmed. The cure is mysterious, but the meaning is clear. Why flour?

- There isn't anything in flour that can soak up a poisonous agent and render it benign. However, when you introduce the Bread of Life into your sin soaked soup, you get a nourishing life!

- There was death in your proverbial stew. You didn't get better by removing the death. You  were born again and the power of His presence through His life wiped out what was killing you!

- Christianity isn't a religion of subtraction, but addition! Jesus makes all the difference in your life and is the only additive necessary. Verse 42.

• II Kings 4:42,43 : "Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, 'Give it to the people, that they may eat.' But his servant said, 'What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?' He said again, 'Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’" : The town used to simply be called "Shalisha" but Israel's idolatry ruined even this!  The word means "thrice great Lord."

- This man seems to be a faithful man of God, who came with a gift from the beginning of the reaping of his harvest. The law called for this to be brought to the Priests.

- Since most of them had relocated to Jerusalem, he brought it to the prophets to supplement their food stores.

- It was a gesture of one man's faithfulness, but certainly not enough to feed the 100 men that were gathered. The hundred loaves are better thought of as "buns!"

- Recall also that this is a time of famine. There wasn't much else out there to feed these men with. Elisha received it on the man's behalf and put it on the menu.

- Immediately, his servant, presumably Gehazi, said what everyone was thinking. This isn't enough for a hundred men! "A hundred women? Maybe. But not men Elisha!"

- Elisha doesn't respond to the doubt. He simply repeats his command with a little extra information. They'll all be able to eat and there will be some left over.

- Is he saying this from self-confidence? Not at all. This verse explains everything else that we have seen. Elisha lived by the Word of the Lord!

- Bring out the food because God says they shall eat and have some left over! This is his disclosure. We can be sure that when he said to fill the pots with the oil, it was the Lord.

- When he laid his body over the corpse that lay in his room, it was the Lord who gave the order to do so! Elisha is only doing what God gave him to do.

- When you live that way, you'll see the results that we see in verse 44.

• II Kings 4:44 : "So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord." : It was just as the Lord had said through Elisha! In the midst of a famine, where will you find satisfaction? At the table that the Lord blesses!

Conclusion
- God meets His people in their time of greatest need. He moves heaven and earth to keep His promise to them. Why? Is it because they are so great? Not at all.

- He preserves them to publicize His greatness, His power to provide from the smallest store.

- He is the Lord who can make something from nothing! Only He can promise the hope of resurrection to life for those that believe upon Him!

- He is the only One whose presence can powerfully offset the death that once consumed you. He is the One that makes very little more than enough!

- He is the God of Elisha and He is the God of those that belong to Jesus Christ!