Read
Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
1One day the widow of one of the Lord's prophets said to Elisha, “You know that before my husband died, he was a follower of yours and a worshiper of the Lord. But he owed a man some money, and now that man is on his way to take my two sons as his slaves.”
2“Maybe there's something I can do to help,” Elisha said. “What do you have in your house?”
“Sir, I have nothing but a small bottle of olive oil.”
3Elisha told her, “Ask your neighbors for their empty jars. And after you've borrowed as many as you can, 4go home and shut the door behind you and your sons. Then begin filling the jars with oil and set each one aside as you fill it.” 5The woman left.
Later, when she and her sons were back inside their house, the two sons brought her the jars, and she began filling them.
6At last, she said to one of her sons, “Bring me another jar.”
“We don't have any more,” he answered, and the oil stopped flowing from the small bottle.
7After she told Elisha what had happened, he said, “Sell the oil and use part of the money to pay what you owe the man. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Reflect
After yesterday’s reading, today’s is a simple, uncomplicated, amazing story.
The cultural details may be unfamiliar. In a world with no social security, widows were often destitute. The only resource they had might have been their children, who could be taken as slaves to pay their debts (though God had forbidden the Israelites to do that.) Perhaps, for us, the oddest detail in the story is the olive oil.
I have a bottle of olive oil in my pantry, and use it to make salad dressings, etc., but it’s hardly one of my most treasured possessions. In the ancient Middle East, olive oil was highly valued. It was the main fat used in cooking, as there was little butter, and of course none of the commercial substitutes with which we’re so familiar. But it had more uses than that. It was used to fuel oil lamps, the only “artificial” lighting they had, rubbed on the skin as soap and a lotion, and offered in religious rituals. It was a staple of their economy.
Then when I read this story and think of “jars,” my imagination goes to the glass jars I use when I make jam. Think again. Think of the jars at the wedding at Cana in John 2. These were large clay storage vessels, and could be as much as four feet high.
So Elisha blessed the widow with gallons of a precious commodity, enough to supply her need for the rest of her life.
What did she contribute? A small bottle of olive oil. All she had.
There’s a message here. It doesn’t matter how small an offering we give to God – whether of money or talents or time, or even of faith – if we give him all we have. He will multiply the gift many times over. Think of the widow’s “mite” (“cent”) in the New Testament (Mark 12:42-44), faith the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20) and the lunch of bread and fish which Jesus used to feed 5000 people (Matthew 14:13-21).
Respond
Gracious Father God, thank you for the economy of the kingdom of heaven. What little I have, I give to you now, unreservedly, for you to multiply. Amen.
Annabel Robinson
Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.