SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 12

ELISHA’S MIRACLES

THE MIRACLE OF THE WIDOW’S OIL

From 2 Kings 4:1-17

One day the wife of a young prophet ran to Elisha with a serious problem. [My husband has died,] she said. [He was a man who loved YHVH, but he was in debt and now that I can’t pay back the money, the man who loaned it wants to take my two children as slaves.] [What can I do for you?] Elisha asked. [What do you have in your house?] [Nothing but a little jar of olive oil,] the widow answered. [Then borrow as many vessels as you can from your neighbours,] Elisha told her. [Take them into your house and shut the door behind you. Keep pouring oil from your jar into these vessels until they are all full.] The widow did as Elisha told her. After she had shut her door, she began pouring oil from her jar into the vessels. At last, the vessels were all full. [Bring me another one,] the widow said. [There isn’t another empty vessel in the house,] said her two sons. Then the oil stopped flowing from her jar to the vessels. The widow hurried to tell Elisha what had happened. [Take the olive oil and sell it,] he instructed. [You will have all the money you need to pay your debts and enough left for you and your sons to live on.] Elisha went from there to Shunem, where a wealthy woman and her husband invited him to eat with them. From that time on, whenever Elisha was in town, they asked him to come and eat with them. [I can see that this is a holy man of YHVH who visits us,] the woman said one day to her husband, [let’s make a room for him on the roof. We will furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp, so he will have a nice place to stay whenever he comes here.] One time when Elisha and his servant Gehazi were resting in the room, the prophet told his servant to call the woman up to see him. When she came, Elisha spoke to her through Gehazi. [Tell her that she has gone to much trouble for us and that I would like to do something for her,] Elisha said. [Ask her if she would like me to say a good word for her to the king or the army commander.] [No,] the woman answered. [I have all I need.] [There must be something we can do for her,] Elisha insisted after the woman left. [Well, she has no son and her husband is quite old,] Gehazi told him. [Then tell her to come back here,] said Elisha. When she came back, Elisha told her, [Next year about this time you will have a son.] [Please don’t say that if it isn’t true,] the woman protested. But it was true, for the next year about that time the woman had a son. It happened just as Elisha had predicted.

COMMENTARY

THE FAMILY OF THE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN

On the edge of the Jezreel Valley lay the small village of Shunem; a community that farmed in the fertile soil of the valley. A childless couple who lived in Shunem recognized that the prophet Elisha passed through their village frequently, and had no place to stay. They befriended Elisha, and often invited him to share their meals. After some time, the couple decided to build a rooftop chamber for Elisha, for they were wealthy and had no children on whom to spend their money. In gratitude Elisha offered to repay the woman for such consideration and hospitality. She refused, saying that she needed nothing. However, Elisha knew that she and her elderly husband had longed for a child, and he promised that their desire would come true. The next year the woman gave birth to a son and as he grew old enough, he began to work with his father in the fields. One day while working with the reapers the son fell ill. The workers carried him to the house, but by noon he died, lying in his mother’s lap. According to Israelite custom the woman should have begun grieving immediately, her wails announcing the death to the village. But the Shunammite woman remembered Elisha’s word, when long ago he had promised that her son would not be a false hope. She mounted the family donkey and set off with a servant to find Elisha. When the prophet discovered what had happened, he hurried to the woman’s house. Placing the dead boy on the bed of the upper chamber, he began to pray and stretched his body out over the boy’s body. Eventually the boy began to stir. He sneezed, opened his eyes; and was alive again.

THE FATHER
It was unusual for a farmer to grow wealthy from his labour; only those with large flocks and many hired hands could turn a profit from their land. The husband of the Shunammite woman was probably a landowner with many fields. An upper room was certain indication of his prosperity. Built on the flat rooftops, these small rooms provided a cool retreat from the summer sun. Private space was rare and most families slept together in a main room with little privacy. Every family longed for such luxury; a quiet place away from constant household activity. Even so, hospitality was a duty that the Israelites welcomed. There was always room for a guest. Building an upper room expressly for Elisha was a very gracious gesture of hospitality.

THE MOTHER
In an Israelite home the birth of children was an occasion of great joy. A wife with many children was an honour to her husband. Not only would the sons carry on the family name, but the children would also provide for their parents when they grew old. To be childless was more than a family misfortune; it was a disgrace. Many childless women lived in great shame, feeling that they had somehow failed. Barrenness was so great a dishonour that Israelite men could legally divorce their wives if they bore no sons. The childless woman from Shunem was well acquainted with these traditions. Elisha knew that a son would be the greatest gift she could receive.

THE SON
Israelite children took on responsibility and hard work at an early age. Looking after the sheep and goats was a common task of young boys. But the harvest season was a farmer’s busiest time, and every available hand; including the young boys; worked in the fields till the crops were in. Reapers had only small sickles with which to cut the stalks of wheat and barley. Working this way in the heat of the summer sun was tiring for adults, and even more exhausting for children. The son of the Shunammite couple probably collapsed from sun stroke; perhaps brought on by hours of work in his father’s fields.