Settling a Debt - 2 Kings 4:1-7

2 Kings 4:1-7


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." 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." 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." (NKJV)

The Father knows our need. And the easiest thing for God to do is to provide for our material needs. Why? Because it’s much more difficult for Him to compel us to surrender, to bend our stubborn wills to His. But in the area of material things, He has the complete cooperation of His creation. Jesus changed the water into wine. God sent manna from heaven to feed the Israelites. And here, He replenished the oil from a single jar until the village supply of jars could accept no more.

He supplies . . . and in abundance.
There are some interesting aspects to this story. First, we know the woman’s dead husband was a student at the school for the prophets. "The Old Testament prophet, Samuel, created the School for the Prophets to further the sacred teachings of Melchizedek. It remained a cornerstone for the education and dissemination of the ancient wisdom for centuries" (http://sanctuaryofthebeloved.com/schoolprophets.html). The widow describes her husband as a "servant [who] feared the Lord." It is also likely, since the widow refers to her husband as "your servant" that her husband was a disciple of Elisha. This was, in all these aspects, a deserving family.


Second, we know that this family had, at some point, turned to creditors to borrow money. The passage doesn’t describe the background of the debt, but it was substantial enough to require the payment of two slaves. Due to the patriarchal nature of the Jewish society, if the widow lost both of her sons, she would be unable to provide for herself. (Women in that culture couldn’t work or own property.) To lose both of her sons to slavery, even for a few years, would be a devastating loss and she had no other assets with which to satisfy the debt.

Third, Elisha doesn’t ask for why the woman was in debt. He doesn’t criticize her for it; he doesn’t berate her for it. He doesn’t even discuss it. He knows that God is willing to provide for her needs.

Third, Father God provided for more than her immediate need. "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest." God isn’t stingy. He wants to liberally provide for us if we trust Him.

Economic situations worldwide are becoming increasingly difficult. According to a number of different studies, the few who are rich are become richer while everyone else is becoming poorer. Certainly, the cost of living in America is becoming higher while wages aren’t matching the need. The situation seems so desperate. Many are desperate to know how their needs will be met.

Desperation, fear, and worry are not reactions that Christians should choose. Looking at our circumstances, rather than the promises of God, may make our hearts faint, but looking to our Father Who has promised to provide all of our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19) should bring peace to our hearts. Like the widow, the situation may seem desperate, but God is waiting for us to trust Him so that He can provide for the need and more that we might also be generous with those around us.

For those of us facing great need (and I’m one of those), we serve a greater God. Money is the easiest thing for Him to provide. Father God filled every empty jar in this woman’s village with oil. There was enough to satisfy the debt and more! Let’s pray and trust for our need and watch the miracle of God unfold before our eyes.

© 2015 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

 

Light of the World - Matthew 5:14-15

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they slight a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, tthat they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (NKJV)

My garden’s looking pretty pathetic about now. It’s late November. The nights are cold. My annuals (the flowers that only grow for the year) have pretty much died and the perennials (the plants that will reemerge in the spring) are going into hibernation. What’s left are the metal and wood garden decorations I bought at the dollar store . . . and the chrysanthemums. The chrysanthemums are riotous, regardless of the fact that the nights are cold and the days aren’t much better. Regardless of the fact that the soil is predominantly sand. Regardless of the frequent winds.

The chrysanthemums are blooming like crazy!

In fact, what’s amazing is that when they were planted in a pot with all "good" soil, when the sun was constantly shining and the nights were warmer, when the conditions were "perfect" for good gardening, the chrysanthemums didn’t do very well. They were just kind of . . . well . . . there. They were part of the garden, but the blooms were few and the leaves were rather insignificant. In my earlier summer garden pictures, you don’t even really notice the chrysanthemum plant. In fact, there was a tendency to think that it didn’t even belong in the garden. But now that the circumstances are much more adverse, it’s blooming spectacularly.

There’s a message in this for the Church, a message that we need to take to heart.

In the past 200 years, America has fostered a cultural climate that embraced the middle class, white Christian church. (Many of us don’t even realize how our country created a culture that seemed to imitate Christian values.) Many grew up in communities where "everyone" went to church, outwardly embrace Judeo-Christian values, and seemingly supported the idea of God and country (both becoming rather synonymous). And now that we are facing rather large cultural shifts, we are frantically trying to maintain the comfortable status quo rather than realizing that this new culture may be exactly what the Lord wants in order to teach us how to become the light on the hill.

The reality is that the Church is like my chrysanthemums. When the circumstances were perfect for growing a Judeo-Christian culture, the real Church was slowly disappearing. It was there in a bleak, limp imitation of itself, but, in truth, the spiritual growth that is produced by an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit has been missing. The real Church has all but disappeared as many have attempted to replace it with an imitation, the idea that we can have a "Christian culture" that is devoid of a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to become "the light in the world," but the light isn’t needed if we don’t first realize that we are living in great darkness. We need desperately to first understand that our world—our nation—lives in this great darkness and needs us to become the Light that is Jesus. And, according to what our Savior said in Matthew, that Light is real only when we are recognized by our "good works" that glorify God.

That phrase "good works" is an interesting one. The word works is, in the Greek, ergon, and can mean "toil" as in an occupation. Our works are those things which occupy us, which occupy our thoughts, our efforts, our time, and our resources. The word good is, in the Greek, kalos, which means "good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends." And that end is what? Bringing glory to God. But how do we do that?

The Lord Jesus, Mark 12, says something very interesting. He first begins with: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" (v. 30-31a). These are very familiar to most Christian and certainly fit the definition of "works". These are the things that need to occupy our thoughts, efforts, time and resources. We need to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.

Then Jesus goes on to say that we need to love those around us. He outlines these two statements as two commandments. The first is that we need to love God and the second is that we need to love our neighbors. Certainly both of these fit the definition of good works. What we need to know is that these two commandments are linked. We cannot love others without loving God with all of our efforts and we cannot love God without demonstrating sacrificial love to others.

This is similar what He said in Matthew about doing being a light and doing good works. The two are inextricably connected. We cannot be a light without doing good works and we cannot do good works unless they are done as the light of the world. And what are those "good works"? They are loving our neighbor as ourselves! Good works aren’t good works that don’t demonstrate love to those around us. Good works are those works which are "well adapted to its ends" which is to love our neighbor.

The one comment that I continue to hear over and over again, across the Internet, (and so, cross-culturally) is that Christians aren’t very loving. We say we’re loving, but what we appear to be is demanding, self-centered and, frankly, mean. We generally have a rather "us four and no more" attitude that demands that the world suits itself to our desires, needs, and culture before we will presume to come down off our self-created pedestals and fellowship with those we consider "sinners." While all that seems harsh, that is indeed what unbelievers are saying about us. Instead of seeing our good works, the world is seeing our self-interest. Instead of acknowledging us as the light, we have become the irritating rock-in-the-shoe that they simply want to get rid of. We aren’t attracting people to the Lord; we are repelling them by our unloving actions.

To be honest, I welcome the adverse cultural conditions that are growing in America. Like the chrysanthemums in my garden, I truly believe that the American Church has the opportunity to return to its true nature and true calling in these times. While others may be afraid of altered foods, scary vaccines, faltering economics, and threats of war, we can stand firm in the knowledge that God loves every person; He died for all of us and His hand is firmly in control. We can walk through the fires, be attacked by snakes and scorpions, and come out victorious because the Lord Jesus has already won the battle!

We need to live as if we always have enough to share with anyone in need, because we do! We need to live as if Christ died for every lost soul, because He did! We need to love as if every person is precious to the Father, because they are! We need to become the chrysanthemum that blooms in adverse conditions, the light on the hill, because that’s what we’re called to do, and we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).

© 2015 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.