The Widow’s Oil

As found in 2 Kings 4:1-7 by Guy K. Henry

www.guyhenry.com

 

The banging on the door grew louder and angrier. Marion trembled as she walked towards it. Her hands were shaking as she pulled it open.

“Where is he?” shouted a large, incensed man who pushed his way into the center of the simple house without invitation. “Where is your no good husband?”

A quieter, but larger man followed him. He just glared at Marion.

Tears flowed down Marion’s face. “Joseph died,” she blurted out, “we buried him yesterday.”

Sympathy would have been nice, but it was not to be found in these two men. They exchanged knowing smiles. “Joseph owes us money,” growled the first man.

“Yeah,” grunted the second, “Twenty silver shekels.”

“Your husband left you with more debt than he was worth, and that debt is not going to just go away,” said the large insensitive man.

Just then the second man started pointing out the window at two boys playing outside.

“Are those your sons?” the other sneered.

“They are my babies, Caleb and Joshua,” Marion said, still crying.

“Great!” shouted the man in charge gruffly. “Listen to me, I’ll be back tomorrow morning. You will either pay us the twenty shekels, or I will take your sons to be bondservants. They’ll work off their worthless father’s debt.”

The words were over. The men turned and left, for now. 

Marion collapsed onto the floor weeping. After a few moments her boys came into the house. That phrase, “worthless father” rang in her ears, and it stung. Joseph had been a good husband and a beloved father to his sons. He had been a prophet who feared Jehovah.

“What’s the matter mommy?” asked eight year old Caleb.

“Why are you crying?” asked worried seven year old Joshua.

Marion was unable to answer, partly because she could not coherently form the words, and partly because the truth was too terrible to tell the boys who had just lost their daddy.  She reached out to them and hugged them tightly. As she cried into Caleb’s hair, she realized that in less than a day, the creditors would be back, and they would forcibly pry her scared boys from her arms. This renewed her tears. Twenty shekels might not be a lot of money to some people, but to the widow of a prophet it was an unattainable fortune.

By now her crying had caused Caleb and Joshua to cry too. They didn’t understand why mommy was crying, but after their daddy’s death they didn’t need a reason to cry. Tears were always close by.

Just then Marion thought of Elisha. Elisha was known as the Father of the Prophets. Joseph had often spoken of Elisha as his mentor, as well as a prophet of the true God. “It is settled,” She thought to herself as she made the decision to go to Elisha for help.

She ran through the crowded streets with her boys in tow in search of Elisha. She stopped many people who gave her suggestions on where to look. Then she stopped a beggar. “Where is Elisha?” Marion asked hurriedly.

“Elisha,” the beggar paused, “he passed by this way just a few moments ago. I bet he’s headed for the temple.”

“Thank you!” Marion gratefully shouted as she ran off in the direction the beggar was pointing.

She rounded a corner. There he was! He was talking to a group of men. Normally women wouldn’t burst in on a conversation between men, but Marion was beyond desperate.

“Your servant, my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear the LORD” Marion said out of breath. She continued, “and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.”

Elisha recognized Marion as the wife of Joseph. His heart went out to her. He said, “What shall I do for you?” Elisha prayed and asked that question of the Lord. Then he asked, “tell me, what have you in the house?”

Marion thought. There was no furniture. There was no money. She said, “your handmaid has nothing in the house, save a pot of oil.” It seemed pathetic as she said it, a mere pot of oil. What was that compared to such a huge debt?

Elisha then became excited. He said, “Go, borrow containers, pots, jugs and jars from your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few, borrow as many as you can.” He spread his arms wide to emphasize that he meant many many containers.

Marion nodded as Elisha continued speaking. “When you have done that, go into your house with your sons, and shut the door. Take your pot of oil, and pour it into the empty containers.”

Marion trusted Elisha, even though she thought his request was strange. As soon as they got home, she sent Caleb and Joshua to the neighbors in search of empty containers.

The neighbors were helpful, and soon the house was full of all sorts of containers. Then Marion took her boys inside and shut the door. She took her pot of oil and lifted it up. First she poured it into a bowl. When it was full, she took a jug, and poured oil into it. It filled up. She filled container after container. The oil just kept flowing from the original pot. She grew excited as she went from jug to jar to bowl to pot filling them with the never-ending supply of oil.

“Boys, find me more containers!” Marion shouted.

“Mommy,” Joshua said, “we’ve asked everybody, there are no more containers!”

A few moments earlier the room had been filled with empty containers. Now every single one was filled with oil.

Marion was still trying to figure out what had happened when she sought out Elisha again. When she found him, he said, “Marion, now go and sell the oil. Pay your debt. You and your sons will be able to live off of the rest of the money.”

Marion, Joshua, and Caleb led a parade of neighbors into the market where they sold the oil.

Early the next morning the two creditors were standing outside the door. They each held a set of chains with tiny cuffs with which to drag off Marion’s two boys. They snickered as they relished the cruelty of the situation. One of the men raised his fist to bang on the door, intending to wake up the family and strike a chord of fear in their hearts. Before the knuckles had a chance to land on the door, Marion swung it open. Wordlessly she dropped a bag with twenty shekels at their feet. “God has provided!” Marion exclaimed as she slammed the door in their surprised faces.

This story is found in Second Kings 4:1-7. I encourage you to read it. It is not my intention to improve on scripture by adding these details to it. Instead I found real emotion in this story. Real emotions, Real needs, Real desperation, and Real provision. You can be sure that when you make your requests to the Real God, you will receive Real answers!