These young men were very nearly being poisoned. There was a famine in the land. Elisha came to Gilgal, where there was a school or college of young men in training for the sacred office of teaching others. Perhaps they were not skilled in the art of making the most of the vegetables which grew round about them, and were badly off for food. Elisha ordered his servant to put on the great pot, and make some pottage, or thick broth, for the hungry students. One of the young men went out to gather herbs for the purpose. There is a species of wild gourd or melon, called Cucumis prophetarum, which is common in the hill country, and which, when green, is sliced and boiled as a vegetable. But in the plains near Gilgal there is a plant extremely similar in appearance, but very different in its qualities. It was probably this—the colocynthus, or squirting cucumber—that is called the "wild gourd" in this chapter, and that the young men gathered and sliced down into the large pot of broth (see Thomson, 'The Land and the Book'). When the pottage had been poured out, the young men began to eat of it, but, alarmed by its bitter taste, and probably suspecting then that poisonous herbs had been put into it, they cried out to Elisha, "O thou man of God, there is death in the pot! ' From this incident we may show that, while there is many an enjoyment, many a course of conduct, as pleasant to the eye and apparently as safe as those poisonous herbs appeared to be, yet there is need for caution. "There is death in the pot." "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
I. THIS MAY BE SAID OF FRAUDULENT PRACTICES. "There is death in the pot." They nearly always begin in ways that seem perfectly safe and harmless. A man takes a little from his employer's desk, intending to return it again. But in nine cases out of ten he never returns it. He has touched what is not his own. The brand of the thief is on his brow and the curse of the thief is on his life. A young man who had been well brought up went from home to enter a bank in a large city. It was noticed, when he returned home, that he was beginning to dress very extravagantly. Each time he returned, some fresh extravagance was noted. He had already begun to spend money faster than he made it, for his salary was but small He was a smart young man, and would soon have got on well in his business, for he was a general favorite. But in a foolish hour he began to abstract some of the bank money. Little by little it went on, until his defalcations were very considerable. At last he was discovered, dismissed in disgrace from the bank, and it was only the intervention of an influential friend of his family that prevented his arrest. He broke his mother's heart, and brought down his father's grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. Fraudulent practices may be very often traced to the habit of gambling or betting. This was testified once more quite recently in London by Mr. Vaughan, the Bow Street magistrate, on a charge which came before him. There was a cashier in the receipt of a salary of £150 a year, with prospects of advance. For eight or nine years he had filled his post creditably; but having got behind in his home expenses, he took a few shillings, and invested them in batting. As he was lucky, from taking shillings he proceeded to pounds; and having once started, he found that it was impossible for him to stop. He had always the hope of winning some day by a stroke of luck, and of thus being able to pay back again the sums which he had embezzled. But the "luck" never came, and he had at last to confess to his employers that he had defrauded them to the extent of £250. "I wish," said Mr. Vaughan, "that the clerks in mercantile houses would come to this court, and see what I see, and hear what I hear. This is only one of a multitude of cases in which prisoners have confessed that their robberies are entirely due to betting, 'I regard it as a curse to the country.' Beware of dishonesty in any form. "There is death in the pot." It means death to a man's reputation, death to his worldly prospects, death to his peace of mind, for he must live in constant terror of discovery; and if he should escape discovery and judgment upon earth, how can he endure the thought of that day when the secrets of every life shall be disclosed, and when he shall stand condemned at the judgment-seat of God?
II. THIS MAY BE SAID ALSO OF PRACTICES OF IMPURITY. "There is death in the pot." Temptations to it abound on every side. A corrupt press sows broadcast its demoralizing stories, with its suggestive pictures. The theatre, with its brilliant lights and strains of sweetest music—so often dedicated to the service of the devil—lures men into the way of the tempter, and into the den of the destroyer. It appears an innocent, harmless amusement. But "there is death in the pot." For one who comes unscathed and safe out of the theatre, there are scores who come out of it morally and spiritually the worse for its influence. Let men say what they like about the influence of the drama as a teacher of morals—and there is nothing to be said against the drama in itself—is there a single case of a man made better by going to the theatre? Where is he? Let him be produced. And even if one or two could be produced, what would they be as a testimony in favor of the theatre, compared to the testimony against it of the thousands it has ruined? "It might do good, but never did. Beware impurity in any form: Beware of impure books, impure songs, the impure jest, impure companions. "There is death in the pot." There is no sin that brings a more speedy or more terrible retribution in this life, than impurity of thought or deed. In a diseased body and a diseased mind it leaves its deadly marks. The impure man is a walking sepulcher. He is digging his own grave. Above all, he is destroying all hope of entering that pure and holy heaven where God is, and into which there shall in no wise enter anything that defileth.
III. THIS MAY BE SAID ALSO OF HABITS OF INTEMPERANCE. "There is death in the pot." We need not take an extreme position on the subject of alcohol any more than on any other subject. But it is right that, as intelligent beings, with a reason and a conscience, as Christian men and women with God's Word to guide us, we should look facts in the face. Medical opinion is often resorted to by those who make too free in their use of alcohol. Let us hear the latest and best medical opinion on the subject. At the last meeting of the British Medical Association, one of the most interesting papers was the report of a special committee which had been appointed by the association to inquire into the connection of disease with habits of intemperance. Here are some of the conclusions which the committee, after most careful investigation, arrived at:
2 Kings 4:42-44
The loaves multiplied.
I. THE PROPHET PROVIDED FOE. It was a time of famine. "But they that fear the Lord shall, not want any good thing." Elisha received a thank offering from the people—bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn. The objection to a paid ministry has no warrant in the Word of God. Old Testament and New alike encourage provision for the wants of God's ministers. Jesus said, "The laborer is worthy of his hire." Paul said, "They that preach the gospel should live of the gospel." It is impracticable and inconvenient that men should be preachers of the gospel, with all the preparation which that work requires, and pastors of the flock, with all the attention which this requires, and at the same time be burdened with the toil and anxiety of providing for their own temporal support and that of their families, if they have them.
II. THE PEOPLE FED. We see here:
1. Elisha's unselfishness. He had freely received; now he freely gives. In that time of famine he might have thought it prudent to store up for himself the supply of food he had received. But no. He trusts God for the future. His first thought is of others who were hungry round about him. "Give unto the people, that they may eat." There is need for more of this unselfishness, considerateness, thoughtfulness. How many of those who have abundance forget to think of those who are in want?
2. The Divine power exercised. God owns his servants, not only by supplying their wants, but by giving power to their word. Oh that every minister of Christ would realize this! What a new power it would give to his work! what a new stimulus to his earnestness! When we think of the greatness and responsibility of our work, we may well ask, "Who is sufficient for these things?" But when, on the other hand, we think of the Divine power which works along with the faithful minister, we may well say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." He can help us to break among our people the bread of life, and bless it abundantly in the breaking.—C.H.I.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
2 Kings 4:1-7
A prophet's widow and it prophet's kindness.
"Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha," etc. There are two subjects of thought in these verses.
I. A PROPHET'S WIDOW IN DISTRESS. "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." This poor woman had not only lost her husband, and was left with a bleeding heart-left lonely and desolate in a cold world, but was left in great poverty. Her husband was not only a good man, one "who did fear the Lord," but a "prophet," a religious teacher, one engaged in disseminating Divine ideas amongst men. It seems that he not only died poor, but died in debt. Even now a large number of ministers are unable to make provision for their wives and children in case of their death. Some of the most enlightened, thoughtful, and really useful ministers are amongst the poorest. Observe:
1. That poverty is not necessarily a disgrace. It is sometimes the result of inflexible honesty and moral nobility.
2. That the best lives here are subject to trials. It is reasonable to infer that this widow was a good woman—one who, like her departed husband, "did fear the Lord;" and yet see her distress! The afflictions of the good are not penal, but disciplinary.
3. That avarice feeds cruelty. "The creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondsmen." The debt she owed, which, we may imagine, could not have been very large, her heartless creditor insisted on being discharged at once, and demanded her two sons to become slaves to him in order to work out the debt. The avaricious world is heartless; even in London hundreds are dying on every side of starvation.
4. That provision should be made for the widows of ministers. The incomes of very many ministers in England today are not sufficient to enable them to make provision for their wives and children in case of their death. Churches which have committees for sending out missionaries, for distributing Bibles (which are cheap enough now), and for distributing tracts, which are often calumnies on Christianity, ought certainly to see that provision is made for the future of their ministers' families.
II. A PROPHET AT WORK TO BELIEVE A BROTHERS WIDOW. In her distress instinct tells her where to go, and she goes to Elisha, not only a man who knew her husband, but one of kindred experiences and sympathies. To him she "cried." Her appeal was really an unintentional compliment to Elisha. The greatest compliment a man can offer is an opportunity for contributing to a truly deserving object. When a man's compeers rank him amongst those whose meanness has become patent, Charity ignores him. In her benign mission she marches by him in stately silence, as one whom society has placed in the branded category of sordid souls. See how Elisha helps this widow.
1. Promptly. "And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house?" He did not want arguments or testimonials, etc; but with a beaming generosity he virtually said, "Tell me your condition, and I will do my utmost to serve you." He set to work at once. Having told him she had nothing in her house but one "pot of oil," he says to her, "Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few." She obeys his behest, goes amongst her neighbors, and Borrows all the vessels, and then, according to his directions, she closes the door upon herself, and upon her sons, and begins to pour out into each vessel a part of the little pot of oil which she had, and as she poured every vessel she had collected became full to the brim. The more she poured the more came, until she lacked vessels to hold it. A symbol this of all benevolent virtues—the more they are used the more they grow. So, indeed, with all the faculties of the soul under the influence of true generosity; right giving is the way to the most precious getting. All this, of course, indicates on Elisha's part supernatural assistance.
2. Effectively. "Then she came and told the man of God [Elisha]. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest." Oil was one of the commodities Judaea traded in (Ezekiel 27:17). She would, therefore, have little difficulty in disposing of this oil, which no doubt was of the best description. The proceeds were to go first to the satisfaction of her heartless creditor, and then to the permanent relief of herself and family.
CONCLUSION. Matthew Henry's remarks are good: "Let those who are poor and in distress be encouraged to trust God for supply in the way of duty. 'Verily thou shalt be fed,' but not feasted. It is true we cannot now expect miracles, yet we may expect mercies if we wait on God and seek him. Let widows particularly, and prophets' widows in a special manner, depend upon him to preserve them and their fatherless children alive; for to them he will be a Husband and a Father. Let those whom God hath blessed with plenty use it for the glory of God, and under the direction of his Word; let them do justly with it, as this widow did, and serve God cheerfully in the use of it; and, as Elisha, be ready to do good to those that need them—be eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame."—D.T.
2 Kings 4:8-17
Hospitality.
"And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem," etc. In these verses there are two very interesting subjects of a practical character.
I. HOSPITALITY RIGHTFULLY EMPLOYED. The object of the hospitality was Elisha the prophet, and the author of it is called here "a great woman." 1 The account given is very clear and sententious. "And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread." Observe:
1. The hospitality was very hearty. "She constrained him to eat bread." She did not give Elisha a mere formal invitation, nor was she urged to it by pleadings on his behalf, either by himself or others. It was spontaneous and hearty, worthy of "a great woman." It was so hearty that Elisha felt authorized, "as oft as he passed by," to enter and "eat bread." On his prophetic mission he would be constantly journeying, and often passing the house, and as often as he did so he felt there was a hearty welcome for him inside, and entered.
2. The hospitality was shown to a poor but godly man. The woman "said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth by us continually," Conventional hospitality welcomes to its table the respectable only, and the more respectable in a worldly sense the more welcome. But genuine hospitality, as in the case before us, looks out for the poor and deserving, and constrains them to enter and be fed. "When thou makest a feast, call not thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind."
3. The hospitality involved considerable trouble and expense. This "great woman" said to her husband, "Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick." She did not say to her husband, "Entertaining him will put us to no inconvenience or expense, therefore let us invite him. No, she calculated upon some inconvenience and cost; a little chamber would have to be built, quiet and suitable for a man of spiritual thoughtfulness and devotion. And then some furniture, too, would have to be procured- " a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick." The hospitality that involves no outlay is common, but is a counterfeit, nay, a misnomer. The accommodation this woman offered to Elisha, it must be borne in mind, included that of his servant Gehazi—he shared the provisions and the apartments of his master.
II. HOSPITALITY NOBLY REWARDED. Elisha, instead of being insensible to the great generosity of his hostess, glowed with gratitude that prompted a strong desire to make some return, and "said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee?" His offer:
1. Implies his consciousness of great power with man. "Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?' Though poor himself, he had influence with the rich; and though too independent in soul to ask of them a favor for himself, he could do it for others. Her answer to his generous offer is expressive of the calm self-respect, unmercenariness, and dignity of a "great woman." She answered, "I dwell among mine own people." As if she had said, "We are provided for; we neither aim at nor need preferment"
2. Implies his See Homilist, vol. 38, p. 289. Consciousness of his power with God. He finds out, through his servant Gehazi, that the one great thing on earth that they desired most, and would most appreciate, was a family; a child would brighten their hearth and gladden their hearts. This, through his wonderful power with Heaven, Elisha obtains for them. Thus the Almighty himself acknowledged the hospitality which this woman had shown to his faithful prophet. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
CONCLUSION. Dinings out and social banquets are common enough amongst us, but hospitality of the true sort is, it may be feared, somewhat rare—the hospitality described by Washington Irving, which "breaks through the chill of ceremonies, and throws every heart into a glow." There is an emanation from the heart in genuine hospitality that cannot be described.—D.T.
2 Kings 4:18-31
Great trials.
"And when the child was grown," etc. This paragraph suggests three general observations.
I. That great trials OFTEN SPRING FROM GREAT MERCIES. With what rapture we may suppose did this woman welcome her only child into the world, and with what care and affection did she minister to his health and enjoyments? It was her greatest earthly prize. She would sooner have parted with all her property, and even, perhaps, with her husband, for he was an old man, than lose this dear boy of hers. Yet she does; death snatches him from her embrace. "And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died." Though the boy was dead, the woman did not seem to lose hope; her maternal love would not allow her to realize the terrible fact at once. She first lays him on the bed in the chamber which she had built for the prophet; then she calls to her husband, and entreats him to send a servant with one of the asses, that she might fly with swiftness to Elisha. When her husband suggested some difficulty about her going just at that time, she replied, "It shall be well." "Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. So she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Carmel." This was a journey of about five or six hours. Distance is nothing when the traveler's heart overflows with emotion. How frequently it happens that from our greatest blessings our greatest trials spring!
1. Friendship is a great blessing. One true friend, whose soul lives in ours and ours in him or her, is of priceless worth. Yet the disruption of that friendship may strike a wound into the heart that no time can heal.
2. A sanguine temperament is a great blessing. It drinks in largely of the beauties of nature; it paints the future with the brightest hopes, and stimulates the energies to the greatest enterprises. All the best productions of the human species have sprung from such temperaments. But what trials it brings, in frustrated plans, blighted purposes, and extinguished hopes! But life abounds with illustrations of the fact—the greater the blessings we enjoy, the greater agony felt in their loss.
II. That great trials SHOULD BE PATIENTLY ENDURED. In this great trial this woman seems wonderfully resigned. In reply to a difficulty which her husband suggested in setting out for the journey, she said, "It shall be well." And when Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, on her approach to the prophet, asked her, "Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?" she answered, "It is well." "Though I left my dear boy a corpse at home, and my heart bleeds, I feel it is all ' well; ' it is the dispensation of a Father all-wise and all-loving. I bow to his will" A state of mind so magnanimous as this under great trial is the duty of all, and the sublime privilege of the holy and the good. Thus Job felt, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord." Thus our great Example felt when overwhelmed with immeasurable distress he said, "Not my will, but thine be done."
"Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be;
Lead me by thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.
"Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best;
Winding or straight it matters not,
It leads me to thy rest"
III. That great trials MAY HAVE A BLESSED END. The end of this woman's great trial was the restoration of her dead child to life. This was brought about:
1. In connection with her own efforts. If she had remained at home and not sped her way to the prophet at Carmel, her boy in all probability would, it would seem, nave remained a corpse, and would have had to be buried forever out of her sight. When she reached him, see how earnestly she pleads: "And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet," etc.
2. By the power of God through Elisha. In the following verses we have a representation of the way in which this was brought about. God helps man by man. All our trials might have a blessed end. "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Yes; whilst "we look not at the things that are seen," the result, under God, depends upon ourselves.—D.T.
2 Kings 4:32-37
The relation of prayer to secondary causes.
"And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead," etc. The death of the Shunammite's son, as we have seen in the preceding verses, was in many senses to her a very severe trial—a trial from which we have inferred that great trials often spring from great mercies; that great trials should be patiently endured; and that great trials might have a blessed end. By prayer Elisha now raised the woman's dead boy to life. See what Elisha did here.
I. HE PRAYED TO THE LORD. "Let this child's soul come into him again."
II. HE PUT HIMSELF INTO DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE CHILD. Mouth to the child's mouth, eyes to the child's eyes, hands to the child's hands, as if he transfused all the vital magnetism of his own nature into the person of the dead child.
III. HE PERSEVERED WITH THE EFFORT. Until the child's flesh waxed warm, and the child sneezed with the breath of new life.—D.T.
2 Kings 4:38-44
Ministries to man, good and bad.
"And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land," etc. Elisha had returned to Gilgal, the seat of a school of the prophets; he had come thither once more on his yearly circuit, and during the famine, which prevailed in the land. As the students sat before their master, he discerned in their emaciated forms the terrible effects upon them of the famine. In the narrative we discover the action of several ministries, or events with which men are visited more or less in passing through this sublunary state.
I. Here is the ministry of SEVERE TRIAL. "There was a dearth in the land." To be destitute of those provisions which are essential to the appeasement of hunger and the sustentation of life is undoubtedly one of the greatest trials. Such destitution is of two kinds—the avoidable and the unavoidable. The former is common. Tens of thousands of people in this country, which so abounds with wealth, are, alas! subject to the trial of this destitution every day. But men bring this destitution on themselves. To the heartless cupidity of one class of men, and the indolence, extravagance, and intemperance of another, the poverty which is rampant in England today must be ascribed. The latter kind of destitution, viz. the inevitable, is that recorded in these verses; it arose out of the sterile condition into which the land was thrown. This was the destitution which now prevailed in Israel; it afflicted all, the good and the bad. In truth, Nature knows of no moral distinctions; she treats kings and paupers, the righteous and the wicked, alike.
II. Here is the ministry of GROSS IGNORANCE. In order to allay the ravenous hunger of his pupils, Elisha said to his servant, "Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds, his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof." Whatever were the herbs which the servants gathered it matters not; they were nauseous and pernicious. "The sons of the prophets," says Matthew Henry, "it would seem, were better skilled in divinity than philosophy, and read their Bibles more than their herbals." What they put into the pot tended to produce death rather than to strengthen life. Every day men are afflicted through the gross ignorance of themselves and others. Through ignorance men are everywhere putting "death in the pot," in a material sense. The cook, the doctor, the brewer, the distiller, how much death do they bring into the "pot" of human life! Through ignorance, too, men "pot" of life! Man's ignorance of God and his claims on the soul, its nature, its laws, and the necessary conditions of true spiritual progress, is the minister of death.
III. Here is the ministry of HUMAN KINDNESS. "And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of bread, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof." Whoever this man was (for no description is given of him save the place of his residence), he was a Heaven-inspired philanthropist. Mercy, the highest attribute of heaven, was in him, and he left his home and came forth to minister to the needs of his suffering race. Thank God for that kindness which has survived the Fall, and still lives in human hearts. The most precious ministry on earth is this: it feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, heals the diseased, wipes away the tears of human sorrow; it is, indeed, Christ in human flesh. For he was then in the world, though the world knew it not.
IV. Here is the ministry of SUPERNATURAL POWER. Supernatural power through Elisha comes to the relief of these sufferers. The supernatural was manifested in two ways.
1. In counteracting the death-tendency of what was in the pot. "But he said, Then bring meal. And he east it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." A supernatural power is required to counteract the pernicious in life. If the Almighty allowed evil to take its course freely and fully, death would run riot and reduce the whole race to extinction. The supernatural was manifested also:
2. In increasing the supplies of life. Elisha commanded his servant to distribute amongst his starving pupils the provisions which the man that came from Baal-shalisha had brought. To this the servant replied, "What, should I set this before a hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord." As the pot of oil increased in the pouring, so the provisions increased in the eating. It has been said of old of God, that he will abundantly bless the "provisions of his people, and satisfy the poor with bread." It is true that moral goodness, truth, and justice, skill, prudence, and diligence, have a tendency to increase everywhere the provisions of human life, and they are doing so every day. But in this case there seems to be the exertion of a power transcending the human. However this may be, that which we call the supernatural is nothing more than the natural. As Nature herself is immeasurably beyond our comprehension, transcends our conceptions, for us to speak of the supernatural implies the arrogation of an intelligence which we do not possess.—D.T.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
2 Kings 4:1-7
The miracles of Elisha: the pot of oil.
The next few chapters relate a number of the miracles of Elisha—all of them works of mercy.
I. THE WIDOW'S TROUBLE. The story told in these verses is one of sore distress. It is a story:
1. Of bereavement. A poor woman, widow of one of "the sons of the prophets," cried to Elisha, "Thy servant my husband is dead." We learn from this that the prophetic communities were not monastic. Marriage was permitted, and members of the fraternity had houses and families of their own. But this poor woman's husband had recently died. She had to face the difficulties and fight the battles of life alone. We are in presence of one of the minor tragedies of life—little thought of, because not uncommon.
2. Of debt. Her husband had been pious—"Thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord"—but his affairs had been left in confusion at his death, or, having no means of subsistence, the family had sunk into dependence on a creditor since his decease. A man may be good, and yet imprudent. On the other hand, misfortunes may overtake the best-intentioned, and reduce them from affluence to poverty. It is, however, a sad thing when the head of a household dies, and leaves to his struggling family an inheritance of debt. This is a contingency to be by every legitimate means guarded against. The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, commenting on the text, "Take no thought for the morrow," etc. (Matthew 6:34), began by announcing, "I insured my own life last week, and have thus been able to carry out the injunction of the text, and not to be over-anxious for the morrow, for much undue care and anxiety that I had is now laid aside, secure in the knowledge that my forethought has provided for my loved ones."
3. Of bondage. The creditor to whom the debt was due showed himself merciless, and, as the law permitted, was about to take as slaves the two sons of the woman (Le 25:39). It mattered little to the hard-hearted creditor that his debtor had "feared the Lord," that the two sons were the only remaining comforts of the widow, and that, with "patience," they might have "paid him all' (Matthew 18:29). He must have his own. It was forbidden to a creditor, to whom a fellow-Israelite was sold, to "compel him to serve as a bondservant," and to "rule over him with rigor" (Le 25:39, 43). But an unscrupulous man would pay little heed to these injunctions. Altogether, the picture is a sad one. Happily, the poor woman knew where to come with her tale of grief. She remembered the "Father of the fatherless" and the "Judge of the widow" (Psalms 68:5), and, when every earthly avenue of help was closed, poured her sorrows into the ear of God's prophet.
II. THE DIRECTIONS OF ELISHA. As the representative of One who had specially declared himself the Friend of "the fatherless and widow" (Deuteronomy 10:18), Elisha could not turn a deaf ear to the widow's plaint. A sympathetic interest in the bereaved and distressed is at all times a duty of God's ministers.
1. He inquired as to her possessions. "Tell me, what hast thou in the house?" God's help takes its starting-point from what we already have. The widow had but "one pot of oil"—oil for anointing; but this was made the basis of what was to be done. So Elijah founded his miracle on the widow of Zarephath's "handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse" (1 Kings 17:12), and Christ his on the lad's "five barley loaves, and two small fishes" (John 6:9). The lesson is that what means of help we have are to be made use of to the utmost before supernatural aid is invoked.
2. He bade her prepare for a liberal experience of God's goodness. "Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few." She was to expect large things of the Lord. Her task in collecting the vessels was, like the digging of the trenches in the last chapter, emphatically a work of faith (2 Kings 3:16, 2 Kings 3:17). God does not stint us in answer to our prayers. His word rather is, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it (Psalms 81:10). If our faith will but trust him, he will astonish us with his liberality.
3. He enjoined secrecy. "When thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out," etc. This was too sacred a work to be made a vulgar wonder. To receive the full benefit of the blessing, the inmates of the house were to be alone, in privacy, their thoughts and spirits undisturbed. Jesus enjoins the cultivation of secrecy in religion (Matthew 6:1-18). He often forbade the blazoning abroad of his miracles (Matthew 8:4, etc.). The parading of religious experiences takes the bloom off them.
III. THE MULTIPYING OF THE OIL.