2Kings 4:3 Go,” said Elisha, “borrow empty jars from all your neighbours. Do not gather just a few. 4 Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”
Here is a story of a widow who needed major financial help. She was the wife of a deceased prophet, and she had been left destitute. The debt she had been left with was extremely unmanageable because the creditors were going to take her sons into slavery to pay it off. 2Kings 4:1 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.” Elisha asks the widow a good question. 2Kings 4:2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. “All I have is a jar of oil,” the widow said. This is often the same question we are asked by the Lord when we are in need and asking God for help. What do you have in your hand, house, or what is within your reach that can be sacrificed in moving forward with faith?
Elisha gives this widow an instruction that would have seemed strange to many, but she obeys. 2Kings 4:5 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. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. The oil never ran out until every jar that had been borrowed was full. The result of her obedience was that there was enough oil to pay off the debt, but most importantly was the ability to make a life for her and her sons. 2Kings 4:7 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.” I am only speculating here, but I wonder if she became a connoisseur of oil because, after all, she had poured the best oil that heaven had to fill her jars. Is it possible she might have started her own oil business? With the revenue left over after paying off her debt, was she able to create an oil business that took care of her and her sons over time? With God’s provision, there is often wisdom available if taken and applied.
The miracle that was taking place within this family after the widow closed the door would have been whispers of “How is this possible?” The awe that would have filled that room would have been holy awareness and reverential fear. They poured the oil from the widow’s jar into the many jars that had been borrowed. The oil did not run out until the last jar was full, because she had followed the Lord’s instructions, which freed her from extreme debt and also prospered her. When we close ourselves in with the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to pour His oil into our beings, we, too, will find that the sweet oil of the Lord will never run out. Matt 6:6 But you when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father, the One in secret. And your Father, the One seeing in secret, will reward you. No matter who you are, as long as you follow Jesus the Word, the anointing oil will not run out.
While Scripture contains the Word of God, Jesus is the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit will keep us united in God and help us submit to the Lord’s instruction. John 16:13 But when He, the, Spirit of truth, shall come, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He may hear, He will speak. And He will declare to you the things coming. In effect, the Holy Spirit will remind us to close the door on the world’s advice and offerings so that we see and hear Jesus clearly. John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Our Heavenly Father’s gift of salvation will never run out. God’s oil of holy gladness and goodness will bring us to repentance. Isa. 61:3b To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
The work of the Holy Spirit will never run out or stop bringing conviction of righteousness and rest to our hearts. John 16:8 And having come, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment. The Lord will bring the peace that passes understanding to our lives when we are in turmoil. He will bring the anointing oil into our prayers when we are praying for the will of God for those whom God has placed on our hearts in intercession. God’s love will never run out because His love endures forever. Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
As the song says, “His mercy is deeper than the grave.” Through the Lord’s mercies, we have been redeemed from eternal death. He is the author and perfecter of our faith and is writing our eternal story to read for what and why God created us. Heb. 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. No Saints, God has done too much to let His holy anointed oil run out of our lives. His mercies and faithfulness towards us are new every morning, and as we close the door on these thoughts, let us be eternally grateful for the grace that has been poured out upon and within our lives. Yes, we are washed in the Lord’s righteousness that will never run out, and oh, how clean that is. John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
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