The Widow’s Oil
One day, a widow of a prophet came to the prophet Elisha, overwhelmed with grief and desperation. With tears in her eyes, she cried out, “My husband has died, and now the creditor is coming to take my two sons as slaves to pay off our debt!” In ancient times, if a family couldn’t repay their debts, creditors had the legal right to take their children as servants to work off what was owed.
Elisha, moved by her distress, gently asked, “Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
The widow looked around and sighed. “I have nothing left… except for a small jar of oil.”
Instead of offering her money, Elisha gave her an unusual instruction. “Go and borrow as many empty jars as you can from your neighbors. Don’t just get a few—gather as many as possible. Then, go into your house with your sons, shut the door behind you, and start pouring oil into the jars.”
Although this command seemed strange, the widow obeyed. She and her sons went from house to house, borrowing every jar they could find. Once they had gathered many containers, they closed the door as Elisha had told them.
Taking her tiny jar of oil, she hesitantly began to pour it into the first empty vessel. To her astonishment, the oil kept flowing! She continued pouring, and the jar filled to the brim. Then she filled another jar, and another, and another. No matter how much she poured, the oil never stopped flowing—until every single container was full.
Overjoyed and amazed, she ran back to Elisha to tell him what had happened. He smiled and said, “Now, go sell the oil, pay off your debt, and use the rest to support yourself and your sons.”
Through her faith and obedience, God had provided for her in a miraculous way. What seemed impossible had become possible because she trusted and acted on God’s word.
Bible Verse:
“Go, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels—and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind you and pour into all those vessels.” — 2 Kings 4:3-4