The Powerful Kindness of God

very well led by the musicians, so thank you for that.

I was thinking whether I'd share this with you, and I think I will.

The first of the three songs we sang, I find a very difficult song.

It's really good. I mean, the words are wonderful.

But I won't go into details, but I was in a particularly difficult stage in my life

with someone I loved very deeply, very sick.

And I went to church, and that song was sung.

And the words were very helpful to me, but the tune, I think, doesn't work.

It's sort of too happy.

You know, the words are taken from the book of Job, of course,

the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

That's the truth.

And it's a wonderful truth and an important truth.

But it's not a light-hearted truth.

You know, we are thankful for what the Lord gives us,

and what the Lord gives us, he can take away.

And that can be very painful.

Very, very painful.

So, I don't know why I'm sharing this with you,

but it's worth, and particularly musos, you did a great job this morning,

but sometimes, you know, the songwriters have given us wonderful words,

but the music doesn't quite match.

I find that tune just a little bit too boppy,

to be singing about the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

That's so sombre.

I'm not being critical of anyone, you understand.

I'm just sharing with you my own emotions.

And I was standing there not singing.

I was hoping no one would notice me not singing,

but I was quite moved by just remembering the time

when my loved one actually recovered,

and the Lord did not take that loved one on that particular occasion.

But I was so caught up with not being able to cope with a song

that, with its music, seemed to trivialise something so profound

as the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Again, I'm sorry.

That's probably an utter irrelevance, so I apologise for that.

So why I feel free to do that is that over this weekend,

we've sort of shortened what we've been doing.

I'm getting tired, you see, and I think you're getting tired as well.

So we started looking at the books of 1 and 2 Kings, right?

The first talk on Friday night, some of you weren't with us,

but those of you who were, we looked at the whole of the book of 2 Kings

and tried to get oriented to that.

And then yesterday morning, we looked at a long section of 2 Kings, chapter 2,

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

which was quite a long narrative.

And then yesterday in the second talk,

we narrowed down and looked at two incidents,

rather dramatic incidents.

Well, now we're just going to look at one incident, all right?

I thought I had time to talk about my own personal experience

in the beginning.

I probably will turn out to regret that.

But before we turn to 2 Kings, chapter 4,

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

and the incident we want to look at there in the life of Elisha,

I want to think again with you for a moment

about the accounts of the life of Jesus in the New Testament.

Because if you were with us yesterday,

you'll know that we're noticing connections and similarities

between the life of Elisha and the life of Jesus.

And those connections sometimes are quite remarkable

and illuminating.

But one of the striking things,

we noticed yesterday we were thinking about the miracles,

the accounts of the miracles of Jesus

and what we were to make of them.

But there's another feature.

I often feel I'd love to come to the Gospels

as though I'd never seen them before.

I wonder how I'd react.

And it's hard to work it out, isn't it?

Because most of us are so familiar with the Gospels.

And even if we're not familiar with the accounts of Jesus,

most of us probably have a reasonable familiarity

with the stories and the general kind of material.

I'd love to come to it for the first time.

And sometimes you meet somebody who's never really heard about Jesus

and they read a Gospel.

And a whole lot of things strike them.

And one of the remarkable things that I think,

even if you don't notice it, probably strikes you,

is the amount of space given in the account of the life of Jesus Christ.

The amount of space given to Jesus dealing with really, really ordinary people.

Right?

Here is the greatest man who has ever lived.

Undeniable, undebatable, that particular proposition.

The greatest man who has ever lived.

If you think it's debatable, please come up with an alternative.

Who's greater?

The greatest man who has ever lived.

And as the story of his life is told,

one of the things that is absolutely, perfectly crystal clear

is that this man cared about the poor

and the outcast

and the troubled individuals who crossed his path

and he encountered.

And I think this is curious.

If you go back, you know, to the ancient world

and really great figures that we know about,

the biographies of great figures

do not usually give a great deal of attention

to encounters with insignificant people.

If you had an account,

and of course there are plenty of them,

sorry, there are a number of them,

accounts of the life of Julius Caesar,

someone like that,

you won't find a lot of space

given to how he dealt with powerless,

unimportant individuals.

Now I say ordinary and insignificant,

I use those sort of words,

but it's perfectly clear from the records

that that's not how Jesus regarded people.

That's not how he saw people.

Again and again and again,

when such a person crossed his path,

he gave them his attention.

He listened to them

and he helped them.

To him, they were very, very far

from being insignificant.

Mind you, you could misunderstand this.

It's not as though Jesus was a kind of social activist

who cared only for the less privileged in society.

You read the accounts

and you see he didn't avoid

the wealthy and the influential and the powerful.

You think about his dealings with Nicodemus,

who was a ruler of the Jews,

or the young man who had great possessions,

or Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue.

I'm simply drawing attention to the way in which

the troubles of those without status

and without wealth and without position

were never dismissed as beneath Jesus

or unworthy of his attention.

Indeed, this aspect of Jesus' treatment of people

gained him a reputation

among the so-called respectable people.

He was called one who eats with

and is a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

And that was not meant as a compliment.

You might think of the way in which

famously Jesus treated children.

When those around him, his disciples,

thought, we don't want Jesus bothered

by the little ones.

It wasn't Jesus' attitude, was it?

Let the children come to me.

In this humble kindness of Jesus,

you see, you often think of things about Jesus

that, you know, God among us.

That's what he was.

And therefore, as you look at Jesus,

you're learning about what God is like.

I don't think we often think that this aspect

of Jesus and his behaviour

and his treatment of people

was a display of what God his Father is like.

Many of Jesus' encounters with powerless,

troubled individuals

were occasions for a mighty work by Jesus,

the kind of thing we were thinking about yesterday.

He gave sight to blind people.

He gave strength to lame people.

He gave hearing to deaf people.

He even gave life to dead people.

In Jesus, you see, the power of God

was something that was not just a display

that you say, wow,

we've done that a couple of times.

It was not just a display that caused you

to be overwhelmed with wonder

and surprise and spectacle.

No, the power of God in Jesus

amplified God's kindness

and his love towards ordinary people.

Someone put it like this,

God magnifies his goodness with his power.

The power of God is not just raw power.

It's power that magnifies his goodness

and his kindness.

Now, I say all that because, once again,

this aspect of the New Testament Gospels

has a significant antecedent.

where we look at the Old Testament stories

of Elijah

and even more so,

the one who came after him,

Elisha,

include a surprising number of stories

of the prophets' encounters

with ordinary people.

Now, you don't find this so much

with anyone else in the Old Testament.

You might find it occasionally,

but not to the same degree,

not to the same extent

as you find with Elijah and Elisha.

These prophets

were major players

in the political life of Israel.

We're not looking today

at 2 Kings chapter 3,

2 Kings 3 · chapter mention

but if you read 2 Kings chapter 3,

2 Kings 3 · chapter mention

that's exactly what you'll see.

You'll see Elisha involved

in the nation's conflicts

with the nation's roundabout,

involved, in other words,

with things as significant as wars.

Elijah and Elisha

were figures who would go

and confront kings

with their wicked ways.

They would proclaim

the word of the Lord

to the nation's leaders

at times of crisis.

However,

the record of their lives,

Elijah and especially Elisha,

also are marked by stories

of their dealings

with suffering,

ordinary individuals.

And 2 Kings chapter 4

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

through to chapter 8,

or the beginning

of chapter 8 at least,

we find a series of stories

about Elisha's dealings

with powerless people

facing various troubles.

It's quite striking.

If you were reading the story,

we haven't had time to do this

to work right through it,

but if you're reading the story

of 2 Kings

and you were read

through chapter 3

and it's sort of big political

sort of games going on

and Elisha involved

at that level,

and then the sudden movement

from his very public role

there in that major

military campaign

to now a whole series

of stories

of individuals

and their needs,

the shift is quite striking.

For in these stories,

we once again see

the power of God

displayed for the sake

of needy individuals.

God's goodness

magnified

by his power.

God's power

employed

to display

his goodness.

Now,

we are going to

content ourselves

this morning

because you're tired

and I'm tired

with just listening

to the first

of these stories,

but I do encourage you

to read on

and I know you've done

that already,

but after this weekend

you might like to read

through again

and enjoy each

of these remarkable

narratives

of Elisha's encounter

with ordinary people.

The first one

read to us

a moment ago

is this encounter

with a poor

troubled widow

who brought her

a need

to the attention

of Elisha

and the story

we're just going

to follow it carefully

and see how it unfolds

in three simple scenes

but I think we will see

it reveals more

than first meets the eye.

So come with me

to witness

this first little incident.

Scene one

begins like this.

We're at 2 Kings

chapter four

verse one.

Now the wife

of one of the sons

of the prophets.

That's who we meet.

The wife

of one of the sons

of the prophets.

We don't know precisely

where this took place

but if you were

with us yesterday

we've heard of

these group

the sons of the prophets

who were followers

of Elijah

and then Elisha.

I like to think of them

and describe them

as disciples

of Elijah and Elisha.

We met a group

of them in Bethel

and we met another group

of them in Jericho

but there were probably

others in various locations

throughout the land

of Israel

so we don't know

exactly where

this happened

but here we learn

that the sons

of the prophets

had wives

and families.

They were not

sort of monastic people.

They were apparently

not cut off

from the ordinary

social and economic

life of the community.

the woman's connection

to the sons

of the prophets

is important

because she too

we might say

was a follower

of Elijah and Elisha.

In our comparison

with the gospels

this story is like

the stories

of Jesus'

dealings with those

who followed him.

However the wording

and literally

it says this

listen to this

how it goes literally

and a certain woman

from the wives

of the sons

of the prophets

and the wording

sort of suggests

she's not a particularly

important person

she's sort of obscure

nobody's really

heard of her

she's not even named

and her name

doesn't seem to be

even been remembered

from this story

and to all

to all appearances

she's a very

unimportant

person.

Well the woman

came to the prophet

with a pressing

problem.

she,

verse 1 again

she cried to Elisha

your servant

my husband

is dead

and you know

that your servant

feared the Lord

that's my

her husband

feared the Lord

but the creditor

has come

to take my

two children

to be his slaves.

Let's try

and understand

the situation

this poor woman

was in.

This was a cry

for help

and directing

her cry

to the prophet

was an act

of faith

we might say

in effect

her cry

was a prayer

and as we

listen to the

woman's cry

we learn

that she

was a widow

evidently

recently bereaved

she was in

a state of

grief

my husband

is dead

she says

and twice

we hear her

refer to her

husband

as Elisha's

servant.

prophet

this is part

of the evidence

that leads me

to conclude

that the sons

of the prophet

were that little

phrase

the sons

of the prophets

they were people

committed

to Elisha

and previously

to Elijah

and furthermore

as though to

underline her point

her husband

she says

feared the Lord

that you'll be

aware if you're

a Bible reader

is not an

uncommon phrase

in the Old

Testament

particularly in

the Old

Testament

and it's a

very important

phrase

feared the Lord

it doesn't mean

you're a person

who's going around

frightened of God

that's not what

it means

and it means

it talks about

the attitude

of your heart

you

you

you bow

to the greatness

and the goodness

of God

you

accept

you take him

seriously

and you're

heart

and mind

is

is so

shaped

by your

taking God

seriously

that you

live

trusting him

and you live

obeying him

this man

this woman's

husband

feared the Lord

and we

learn here

that Elisha

knew him

Elisha knew

this man

and knew

his faithfulness

and again

we're given

the impression

of a close

relationship

between Elisha

and the sons

of the prophets

he knew

his disciples

individually

and personally

the grieving

widow's

distress

was intensified

so she's grieving

but on top

of that

there is a threat

now

of her losing

her children

because of a

debt

that had been

incurred

presumably by

her husband

we don't know

the circumstances

behind this

however

the creditor

was now

pressing

what he saw

as his legal

rights

and demanding

that the

woman's two

children

now become

his slaves

because of

what

she owed

him

what a terrible

situation

that is

isn't it

just imagine

being in that

situation

if you don't

pay off

your Master

card

they come

and get

your kids

well

debt's a

pretty serious

thing

and it's

interesting

the Old

Testament

law

I've been

given a

glimpse of

the questions

that are

coming up

in Q&A

later on

I thought

they were

going to be

sifted so

they'd only

be easy

ones

didn't work

no wonder

Dave's gone

off sticky

I could have

a go at him

for not

actually sifting

them and

only having

easy ones

coming through

but there is

a question

there I

can't remember

the details

and we'll

look at it

later on

but about

Old Testament

law

and Old

Testament law

needs to be

read with

care

Old Testament

law is not

law for

today

today we're

not living

in Israel

we're not

living in

the ancient

world that

Israel inhabited

that's one of

the things to

say about

reading the

ancient law

but the

Old Testament

law is

God given

for Israel

in Old

Testament

times

no getting

away from

that

it's

God given

law

it's

God's

law

therefore

it's

worth

reading

without

saying we

are under

this law

that we're

supposed to

keep this

law in

all its

details

but certainly

it's worth

reading because

it's God

given

it's worth

reading in

its context

and so on

and so it's

interesting to do

a little bit of a

study and I did

and I've summarised

the results on

your notes there

you can look up

the references

we're not going

to do that

now but let me

just summarise

what I learnt

by having a little

bit of a look

at debt

and Old

Testament law

about debt

it's taken

seriously

that's the first

thing I notice

in Old

Testament law

and it is a

serious matter

and it is

something that

can lead to

serious social

problems in

any society

and I do

find myself

occasionally

encouraging young

people who are

living in a

society where a

whole lot of

people are really

anxious to get

you into debt

they give you

very very easy

credit

you can get

into a lot of

trouble

and it's not a

bad idea to

see again I'm

not being

legalistic about

this but to

see how much

you can take

your path through

life without

getting into

debt

if you can't

afford it

don't buy it

don't get into

debt

now there are

circumstances in

which our

society has been

structured in such

a way as debt

is necessary

buying homes and

things like that

I understand that

I'm not saying

this is an

absolute law

but in your

lifestyle live

within your

means

don't run up

your credit

card account

don't get into

trouble and a

lot of people do

get into serious

trouble in that

area and then

have to go and

get help from

other people and

they're a burden

on other people

which they

wouldn't necessarily

have been if

they'd lived

within their

means so the

first thing I

notice and if

you look up all

those references

you see that

is that debt

is a serious

matter and can

cause serious

social problems

serious problems

for individuals

and in Israel

we have God's

law with a

number of

provisions around

debt and

lending and you

get the impression

or I get the

impression that the

Old Testament law

God's law about

lending in Old

Testament Israel

is generally

designed to

protect the

poor and the

vulnerable from

exploitation which

is the very thing

that happens in

our society.

The easiest credit

to get in our

society I suspect I

don't think there

can be anything

easier than a

credit card and

because it's easy

and lots of people

will get caught up

in it those who

issue the credit

cards charge an

unbelievable rate of

interest that you

are sort of many

people are sort of

unaware of as they

start using these

things and there's

a terrific trap

there.

I'm not really

meaning to go on

about credit

cards so stop me

doing that.

But it's worth

noting briefly what

God's law in the

Old Testament had to

say about debt

because debt lies

behind this story

that's before us

and four points

and you can follow

up the references

on the notes as I

say.

The first point is

that while lending

to a poor person

was permitted and

actually even

encouraged in the

Old Testament law

charging interest

on the loan in

such circumstances

was forbidden.

You can look up

those references.

The word that we

have in our little

narrative creditor

anybody got an

NIV what word do

they have there

instead of creditor?

They have creditor?

The word is

elsewhere in

Old Testament law

money lender.

It's the same

Hebrew word and

when that word is

used it almost

always refers to

an unscrupulous

profit oriented

form of lending.

The kind of

lending that you

get when you use

your credit card.

Directed specifically

at one's needy

fellow citizens.

So this creditor

in this story was

really on the wrong

side of God's law

to start with.

Because you're not

meant to be lending

to poor people

and then charging

interest.

Lend to poor people

by all means to

help them but you

don't exploit them.

The second aspect

that you learn in

God's law is that

when a loan is

made on the basis

of some item

given as security

the needs of the

borrower must still

be respected.

And I've got a

number of references

there you can see

how that is

unpacked.

It's not as though

you then just

ignore the needs

of the person

who is in debt

to you.

You take those

into account.

Thirdly according

to Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15:2

verse 2

at the end of

every seven years

a creditor was

required to release

his creditors

from their debt.

Goodness me

the banks

wouldn't do too

well with that

would they?

Our society

is built on a

completely different

basis but this is

part of the way

in which Israel

was meant to

function.

Every seven years

those in debt

would be released

from their debt.

And there were

even laws to say

now you'd be very

careful that you

don't if you're

lending you don't

take note of that

and refuse to lend

to someone because

the seventh year is

about to come up.

You know there's

laws around that

as well.

And fourth

in the extreme

case where a

person pledges

himself or

family members

as security

for a loan

they may not

be made

slaves

but may

serve as

hired servants

until the year

of Jubilee.

And again you

can see the

references there.

Now that's

interesting isn't

it?

There's an

ancient society

you don't say

we should be

obeying

there have been

groups of

Christians over

the years have

said this we

really ought to

be a society

in which we

keep all of

God's Old

Testament laws.

No they

weren't given

for that

purpose.

They weren't

given for

today's world

they were given

for Israel

in the ancient

world and it's

very interesting

scholars have

done this I

haven't done it

but I just read

some of the

things that

they've written

comparing

ancient law

codes with

other law

codes.

Sorry comparing

the Old

Testament law

code the

God given

law code with

other law

codes around

in the world

at the time

and it's

astonishing even

from our

perspective you

can see how

good they are

and even this

just looking at

a debt you

can say that's

that's not a

bad system is it

particularly in the

ancient world

where a lot of

things that have

developed now in

the modern world

hadn't developed

and some of the

things in the

modern world could

learn a thing or

two from God's

Old Testament law

not to adopt

the law directly

like that but to

learn in principle

how do you deal

with debt how do

you deal with

people in need

how do you and

to learn like

that now the

provisions of

God's law in

Israel as Israel

actually lived in

history so you've

got God's law

given in the days

of Moses and

then you've got

the history of

Israel that

followed well

pretty often and

indeed most of

the time God's

law was not

kept and again

and again it

was broken and

abused in Israel

leading to a

great deal of

hardship for

needy people

you only have to

read the books

of the prophets

the most famous

of them but most

of them will touch

on this is Amos

who has words to

say about a

society which has

disregarded about

Israel when they

had disregarded

God's law and

caused a great

deal of suffering

now we're in a

situation here in

this story where

this widow had

a creditor who

had lent money

presumably to her

husband and the

creditor was

exploiting the

situation to his

own advantage

he may have

seen himself as

within his legal

rights by you

know that kind of

selective reading

of the law

kind of thing we

often do with our

Bibles we read

the bits that we

really like and

that suit us but

if something is a

little bit challenging

we skip over that

bit well he may

have been that

kind of person in

terms of reading

God's law but he

he was taking no

account of the

changed circumstances

of this family no

account of the fact

that the husband and

father had died he

appears to be a

person who was

showing no mercy

towards the widow

and her children he

came the language of

verse 1 is quite

telling he came to

take he came to

take well Elisha

responded with two

questions the first

one verse 2 what

shall I do for you

wouldn't that have

been nice to hear

for the widow to

hear see he signals

first to the poor

troubled widow he

he signals his

willingness to

help what can I

do for you

then he asks

another question

which is a little

bit more puzzling

tell me what have

you in your house

what do you got

what's in the

house

the answer was not

much

see Elisha drew

was drawing the

woman into what

he was about to

do for her

I think this is a

right thing to do

some of you might

want to challenge me

on this but as I

read these Elisha

stories I keep

hearing echoes of

the gospel stories

and sort of say

how like do you

remember when Jesus

was confronted by

the needs of the

great crowd and

feeding the crowd

he said to the

disciples how many

loaves have you got

what have you got

it's sort of

drawing them in to

what he's about to

do and so

Elisha seems to

be doing something

similar and the

widow's reply

indicated her

utter inability to

satisfy this

creditor

see what she says

in verse 2

your servant has

nothing in the

house there's

nothing there we

haven't got a

thing except this

jar of oil

and the emphasis

in that sentence

is on the word

nothing

her jar of oil

almost certainly

was a little

flask I don't

know how big

but a little

flask of ointment

that would be

used for anointing

the body that

was probably all

it was all she

had all she had

was a little bit

of oil and

again it sort of

reminds me of the

response of the

disciples to Jesus

what do you got

five loaves and

two fish that's

all we got

that's all they

had that's all

she had

well Elisha

responded with

clear but very

strange instructions

verse 3 then he

said go outside

borrow vessels

from all your

neighbours

empty vessels

and not too

few

love that phrase

and then go

in and shut

the door behind

yourself and

your son and

behind yourself

and your sons

and pour into

all these

vessels and

when one is

full set it

aside so

first she's got

to go out and

ask her neighbours

for all the

empty containers

that could be

found not too

few suggests an

unusual effort

was to be made

collecting as

many vessels

as possible

you can't

imagine the

neighbours saying

what on earth

is she doing

what does she

want with all

these dishes

and bowls

and pots

and jugs

and basins

and flasks

and saucepans

and whatever

and second

well she's got

to collect all

those as many

as she can get

from her neighbours

and then she's

to go inside

with her sons

and all the

empty vessels

that she's

managed to

gather and

shut the

door

Elisha's not

going to be

directly involved

in what's

going to

happen

what was

about to

happen would

take some

time

and it was

not to be

a kind of

spectacle that

would attract

crowds and

onlookers

it would

happen behind

closed doors

quietly

and then third

what she was

to do behind

closed doors

was to pour

into these

vessels

the language

is concise

but one by

one presumably

the pouring

is from the

little flask

of oil

that's all

she had

that has

been mentioned

and Elisha's

instructions

implied that

the oil

would fill

vessel

after vessel

I've got to

admit that if I

try and imagine

myself in that

situation being

that poor

widow

I think

my reaction

would be

you've got to

be kidding

yeah

yeah

well the

astonishing

story now

unfolds quite

quickly

scene 2

begins with

the widow's

obedience

she doesn't

say you've

got to be

kidding

verse 5

says so

she went

from him

she went

to do

precisely

what the

prophet had

told her

to do

her efforts

going around

from all

the houses

round about

collecting as

many empty

vessels as

possible

that's passed

over without

a word

that's not

actually described

it's obvious

she did it

but it's not

described

it must have

taken some

time and

would have

been very

perplexing to

anyone who

was watching

this funny

little old

lady going

from house

to house

collecting all

the containers

that she could

we're taken

straight to the

moment that the

woman went

inside

verse 5

says and

she shut

the door

so all that's

happened

that's just

presumed to have

happened

shut the door

behind herself

and her sons

all the

containers are

there piled up

high

sort of

imagining them

in one of

her rooms

and her

sons are

with her

to help

and they

begin

perhaps they're

in the room

next door

and as she

poured

they brought

the vessels

to her

there's an

emphasis here

on the

activity of

the boys

and their

mother

the continuous

activity in

this room

they were

bringing

vessel

after

vessel

after

vessel

after

vessel

and she

was

pouring

and pouring

and pouring

and pouring

it went on

for some

time

until at last

the woman

was surrounded

trying to

imagine it

with containers

of various

shapes and

sizes

each one

full of

oil

and then she

said to one

of her sons

bring me

another vessel

and he

replied

there's none

left

and at

that moment

the oil

stopped

flowing

she said

oh

it's not

flowing anymore

there's none

left

now

just look

at all

that oil

it was

almost

certainly

in the

context

of the

time

this

would

have

been

olive

oil

normally

produced

by crushing

olives

with a

mortar

or in

a rock

press

sometimes

it was

produced

by treading

them like

grapes

in a

wine

press

oil

was

used

with a

number

of uses

it

included

cooking

anointing

the skin

just

treating

your dry

skin

to make

it

nice

and

smooth

particularly

the head

and the

face

were

often

rubbed

with this

kind of

oil

it was

used

as a

fuel

in

lamps

and it

was

sometimes

used

for

soothing

wounds

if you

had a

scratch

or a

cut

the oil

would

soothe

the

pain

and I

suppose

stop the

exposure

to the

air

I suppose

that was

happening

so oil

was a

useful

commodity

but generally

speaking in

relatively small

amounts

that's why

I presume

the woman

just had

this little

jar in

the house

nobody

had a

large

amount

of it

and this

abundant

supply

of oil

filling

many

vessels

in the

widow's

house

obviously

produced

obviously

produced

by

as the

woman

and her

sons

could see

nobody else

knew at this

stage but

a remarkable

act of

God

but is it

not

an extraordinary

testimony

to God's

abundant

kindness

here's God's

goodness

on display

this is what

God's power

does

it

it magnifies

his goodness

it's not

just

power

it's

power

of one

who is

infinitely

good

and here

you see

it

it's small

it's insignificant

hardly

worth writing

in the history

book

we don't even

know the

woman's name

no

this was a

display

of the

goodness

of God

magnified

by his

power

and it

really is

worth

remembering

and so

it's

recorded

but of

course the

question does

arise what

is she

going to

do with

all this

oil

and I

think she

might have

been wondering

the same

thing

in scene

three we

follow her

out of the

house again

as she

returned to

Elisha

verse seven

she came

out and she

told the

man of

God that

is she

reported

everything

that had

happened

to Elisha

but just

notice by the

way and I

hope you don't

mind us

reading as

slowly as

we're

reading I

love the

details the

details are

brilliant I

think this

is the first

time that

Elisha is

called man

of God

the man

of God

it won't

be the

last

indeed in

the Old

Testament

Elisha is

called man

of God

more than

anyone else

but man

of God

is a very

weighty

expression

it doesn't

just mean

oh he was

a godly

man he was

a man of

God we use

that phrase a

little bit

sometimes don't

we when we

describe someone

a man of

God I don't

think we use

it very much

these days but

I think the

general sense

of it a

godly person

a person of

true faith in

God now it's

more than that

man of God

in the way in

which it's used

in the Old

Testament means

a man from

God

right a man

who speaks

and acts

for God

a man of

God

is a very

weighty

expression

well she

came to

the man

of God

she doesn't

just come to

Elisha

she came to

the man

of God

and Elisha

brings this

episode to a

close by

spelling out

the consequences

of what had

happened

he said

verse 7

again

go

sell the

oil

oh that's

a good

idea

and pay

your debts

and you

and your

sons can

live on

the rest

so for the

reasons that I

outlined a

moment ago

oil was a

tradable

commodity

and its

usefulness in

small quantities

suggests that

the vast

quantity that

the woman

now had

access to

would have

had considerable

value

people were

happy to have

oil in small

quantities

and pay for

it

well what

she had

would have

had very

significant

value

you see the

Lord had

provided

and his

provision

enabled the

woman now

to be free

both from

debt

and poverty

the Lord's

provision was

not small

not a few

containers

not