This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Life of Elisha” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, November 13, 1988.

Tonight we begin our scripture reading with a portion of 1 Kings 17, and then we’ll be turning over to 2 Kings 4. So we’ll start with the 17th chapter, 1 Kings, before we read from the book of 2 Kings. Chapter seventeen verse eighteen through, I’m sorry, verse eight through verse sixteen.

Hear now the word of God. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks.

And he called to her and said, Please give me a little water in a jar that I may drink. And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand. But she said, As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. And behold, I am gathering a few sticks, that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “‘Do not fear. Go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.’

For thus says the Lord God of Israel, The boule of flour should not be exhausted, nor the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth. So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The boule of flour was not exhausted, nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which he spake through Elijah.” and turning over to chapter four of 2 Kings, reading the first seven verses. Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord And the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, what shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.

Then he said, go borrow vessels at large for yourself and from all your neighbors, even empty vessels, do not get a few. You shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons and pour out into all these vessels and you shall set aside what is full.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. And it came about when the vessels were full that she said to her son, bring me another vessel. And he said to her, there is not one vessel more. and the oil stopped. 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 can live on the rest.

Our Father, you have In this day, send forth your word, and we pray, our God, that in keeping with your instruction, we will be faithful with regard to the ministry of that word. To this end, we pray, our God, that you would raise up laborers for the harvest, those who are true and faithful, who are desirous of the good of your people and the glory of your name. We ask our father that they may be given insight into your word, so that that word, in keeping with its full intent, would be placed before your people for their benefit. And not only this, but those yet lost in sin but ordained unto everlasting life, would by that word be set free. We pray, our God, that your grace then may be abounding towards those called in their service, but also towards us in our prayer and participation in their ministry. Our God, glorify yourself in your work throughout the world. May we be delighted in how we have been made participants in the same. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

We have before us now a passage that brings before us not just Elisha, whose life we are considering, but with our reflections upon his life, we are compelled to take into account, it seems, the life of that one who has gone before him. There is the parallel, the obvious parallel, that exists between these two men, for these two figures, Elijah and Elisha. These passages certainly place before us the parallel. Take the stories of Elijah with the widow from Zarephath, and this story of Elisha and the widow from Israel. Note, first of all, the similarities.

Both stories have a complex of figures, the dramatic personages, in each we have a widow, in each we have the prophet, in each we have children of the widow, they sharing in the circumstances of their mothers. The widows typify weakness, vulnerability. As you know, listed amongst those in Israel especially privileged, since they, in their weakness, were to be the objects of mercy. They were to draw upon the strength of others. so that they might survive and have what was necessary. We have here, then, the similarities with regard to the people involved. The women, the prophets, the children. And also, then, introduced into the circumstances, severe crisis.

In 1 Kings 17, We are faced with the situation of the famine. We know about that famine. It is come due to judgment, a judgment which God has pronounced upon his people, a judgment severely felt there in the northern territories, severely felt in Israel itself, that nation under the tutelage or rather under the sovereignty they have. The judgment has come in the form of a famine, but the severity of that famine now breaks through the boundaries of Israel and is felt in the Gentile territories of Sidon, in Zarephath. And as starvation threatens Israel, so starvation now threatens this Gentile land. There is the severe crisis then, the crisis that is felt in 1 Kings 17, but there is also crisis felt in 2 Kings 4, and in this story that concerns Elisha, and the specific widow that is the recipient of his ministry. It is not a matter of famine and the lack of bread. But the fact that there is no money, there is no way, seemingly, to pay off debt threatening here is servitude, bondage, slavery for the children of this widow, and deep humiliation.

So we have the similarities in terms of the personages involved. We have the similarities also with regard to a crisis that overtakes. in both instances, humiliation. There is also in these stories, placed before us, that response by each of the widows in view.

There is the word of the prophet that comes to them, and then there is a response that could best be described as an obedience of faith. They, hearing the message of the prophet, act upon what they have been told, seemingly in faith. This also a pyramid. Each story has within it the declaration of a miraculous provision through the ministry of the Prophet.

So we have the dramatic personages, the crisis that overtakes, a response of obedience in faith, a miraculous provision, and then the consequent salvation. But there are differences, marked differences, dissimilarities, in these stories that must be observed also. Note the differences. 1 Kings 17.

The widow to whom Elijah comes is a Gentile. We have already made mention of that. The widow to whom Elijah comes is a Jew. There is the difference of the women, there is the difference of the prophets themselves, Elijah and then Elisha, and their respective ministries.

There is the difference in that in 1 Kings 17 there is the one child in the Second Kings four, there are two. Furthermore, there is the difference in First Kings seventeen. That’s the widow there being a Gentile has no claim upon the problem. However, the widow in first and second Kings four. has a claim in that there is a natural bond that exists between her and the prophet. She, with him, is an Israelite. And her husband, with the prophet, was part of the prophetic guild, if you will. The preacher’s union in ancient Israel.

There is crisis, as we have noted, the fact that each story involves a crisis, but there is a difference with respect to each of the crises in view. The crisis in 1 Kings 17 comes through a curse that is pronounced upon creation, the wide range of creation is in view, as the famine not only affects the territories of Israel, but Gentile lands also.

This curse that comes upon the created order has as its end death. But contrast with that, now the crisis of 2 Kings 4. Here we have a crisis that is precipitated by corruption. Corruption within Israel, within the land itself. It is a corruption that has to do not so much with the created order, but with the heart. We might well ask, why does this widow find herself in this circumstance without provision at all?

Some have suggested that the widow here is the wife of the prophet Obadiah, mentioned in the story of Elijah. Obadiah, you might recall, was that prophet who was faithful, who hid who hid the prophets from Jezebel, when Jezebel pronounced her edict against them and sought to destroy them. We are told in 1 Kings 18, for instance, that Obadiah was busy hiding the prophets and providing for them bread and water during the days of the drought. This crisis is thought then to revolve around a corruption of heart, that the widow finds herself in this circumstance because of persecution that has been unleashed against her.

Sin rampant in the land. But interestingly, If, in fact, it is sin that has unleashed itself against her and been responsible for her condition, it is the law that comes to the aid of those who seek to persecute her. Because there was provision in the law that if one could not pay debt, then servitude was exacted until that debt was paid. The crisis then, a corruption of heart, the rise of sin, the use of the law, ending in the humiliation of servitude. In the one instance, 1 Kings 17, a crisis that ends in death, in 2 Kings 4, a crisis that ends in slavery.

These contrasts, so far, as we review the stories. But there is also a contrast with regard to the response that we’ve spoken about. There was that response, unified in terms of the theme, an obedience of faith. But note the faith in 1st Kings 17. Here we see that the blessing that is conferred upon this faith is life from the dead. The obedience to the call of God, this response to the word, ends in death giving way to life. here in the story in 2nd Kings 4. The blessing that is attendant to faith is one in which bondage or slavery gives way to liberty and freedom.

And finally, with regard to the contrasts or dissimilarities. We note the provisions. Of course, deliverance has come, and that we see the parallel between the two stories. But there is a contrast even here in terms of the provision granted respectively in each of these stories.

The provision in 1 Kings 17 sustains as long as the privation threatens. The provision given through the prophet’s word and through the miraculous intervention sustains the widow and her son as long as the privation threatens, as long as the famine stalks the land. Then we note the provision as it is spoken of in 2 Kings 4. And it’s remarkable the way in which that provision is spoken of here.

The prophet says in verse 7, go sell the oil, pay your debt. There’s provision for the crisis that is immediately upon the widow and her children. And then he goes on to say, and you and your sons can live on the rest. The implication of that is that there was going to be adequate, adequate money. There was going to be adequate profit from the sale of that oil to bless them permanently, a permanent resolution to financial difficulty. In other words, permanent liberty in the face of financial threat. or permanent liberty in the face of threatening bondage.

Alright, so there you have the stories laid out in terms of their similarities and their dissimilarities. Obviously parallel, a parallel intended. The ministry of Elijah and the ministry of Elisha brought together here. Elisha, if you will, in some respects repeating the ministry of Elijah. But now we move on to consider the meaning of each of these stories in turn. The meaning. First of all, with regard to 1 Kings 17.

What is going on when Elijah goes into the territories of Sidon, to the community of Zarephath, to visit this widow? Why, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah the prophet, but the prophet wasn’t sent to any of them. Rather, he was sent to a Gentile widow.

Do you see what’s happening? The ministry of Elijah is previewing the ministry of the Word as it is directed towards the Gentiles, towards the nations. When Elijah comes to that widow, you have here an instance before the time, an instance when the word of God, in its effectiveness, registers upon Gentile flesh. Elijah prefused the ministry of the word to the Gentiles, that ministry that will in one day be fulfilled as Jesus Christ sends forth his word to the ends of the earth.

And what is true of the nations? Why, the shadow of death overshadows them. They live beneath the threat of death itself may live under the tyranny of that threat. But now the word of God comes, and that word of God is the word of life. And it elicits from the elect an obedience of faith and life overtakes death and displaces it. That’s the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. The shadow of death over shadowing the nations but the word of life, eliciting from the elect an obedience of faith and life, consequently displacing death and blessing more than adequate to the practice.

But Elijah is one in whom we can see someone greater. A greater than Elijah has come, and in his ministry he also will give premonitions of the coming blessing to the nations. For this one will not merely preview the ministry of the word, he is in himself the living And while in his ministry there are then those from Gentile lands touched by his ministry directly, yet even within the territories of Israel, he will gather about him multitudes which will speak of the innumerable hosts who will be brought to him, and that by his sovereign working. And when those multitudes come, he will feed them. with the provision that sustains them against the threat of privation. The loaves are multiplied, and the multitudes are satisfied. In the giving of that bread, there is more than physical sustenance being supplied those people. For this One who ministers to them is the Word of Life Himself. And in his ministry, you see now, as there is response in obedience, there is response in obedience through faith. Death gives way to life, and the peoples live.

Where do you stand with respect to that ministry of Elijah the prophet, or the one greater than Elijah? Are you not taken from amongst the nations? Can we here tonight get up and testify about our various heritages? What our respective lineages are? Even in this room, even in an assembly of such an obscure denomination as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can we speak about our national origins and see in that a testimony to the fact that the Word of Life has been spoken to all of the nations, and the nations have been gathered and have been fed with the Word of Life itself, with Jesus Christ. Have you not yourself feasted? Have you no less than a widow and seraphath been fed? Have you, with the multitudes gathered by Jesus, been fed by him? And is it not true for you? Do you not know this in your heart of hearts? Crisis has come. The creation is cursed. The nations live under the shadow of death. But the shadow has been lifted, and death gives way to life. Are you not now alive? Blessed yourself with eternal because you have fed upon the word.

Isn’t this what Jesus says to us, in effect, as he gives us the commentary on the feeding of the five thousand in John chapter six? Maybe it would be well for us to look at that passage just briefly. and note the universal intent of Christ as he speaks there. Of course, these are Jews to whom he is speaking, but he he draws out the implications of his actions with regard to those five thousand. Notice what he says. Verses thirty two and thirty three.

Jesus, therefore, said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the word of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world, the nations. Then drop down.

Verse 48 and following, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread also which I give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The living word. You must feast upon him. And if you do, and if you have, the promise of the provision to the widow of Zarephath is being fulfilled in you. The promise of the provision to the five thousand gathered around Jesus and fed by him is fulfilled in you. You are not alive to die. You are alive to live forever and ever. Well, that’s 1st Kings 17, what might we say about 2nd Kings 4? We’ve noticed the contrasts already. We can anticipate something of the direction in which the biblical record is moving. For if Elijah previews the ministry of the Word, even the living Word, to the Gentiles, then Elisha previews the ministry of the Spirit to the children of God.

And you see why this is being worked out in this fashion for you, no one prophet will have it all. There is not one, not even Elijah, who can stand up and say, well, I’ve got it all, and if you’re going to learn anything about the Messiah, in future days you have to learn it in and through me. Not one prophet in his own name, in his own personage, by his ministry, considered as a whole, can present to you the totality of what is coming. Not one of them can circumscribe the whole thing. Not one of them can contain the whole of what is coming into Christ within himself. He simply is not adequate. He simply isn’t sufficient.

Do you know why there are three patriarchs? Each one of them is speaking to you about the coming Christ. But you can’t see all of Christ in Abraham. You must have Isaac, too. You can’t even see all of Christ in Abraham and Isaac. You have to have Jacob. And if that weren’t enough, we’re told, no, not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You have to have Joseph, also. Not one of them can paint for you the whole picture of the coming Christ and what he has to give.

And not one prophet, be he as great as Elijah, can do that either. You move from Elijah to Elisha for a purpose, so that in pulling them together, the whole picture may coalesce in Christ. Add, then, Elisha to Elijah. Elijah, then, preview of the ministry of the words of the nations. Elisha, in this account, previewing the ministry of the Spirit. What is the oil here all about? Do we not usually associate oil with the Spirit of God? Absolutely. And that provision pointing us in the direction of that Spirit, what of the two sons? Ah, here we go.

Why does this widow have two sons and not one, like the widow of Zarephath? Because, you see, There are children of God in the Lord, in the territory of Israel, and there are children of God who will stand with Him. And the doubling of the sons is indicative of the whole of the people of God. The two sons then become representative of the liberated children of Israel. But note the circumstances, you see, and the necessity that arises out of our consideration of this fact. The two sons are part of the liberated children of Israel.

That is, they have been set free by the act of God, when God in fact set his people free through the ministry of Moses. Was that not a deliverance? Was that not a liberty conferred upon the children of Israel? But even after that freedom has been conferred, slavery survives, bondage survives. And that slavery and bondage is even mediated unto Israel by the law, this provision in it, this provision for it in the law that is given to the children of Israel. They are in slavery to their sins, but even more, They are in slavery through the testimony of the law against them that keeps them in slavery even beyond the liberty they have experienced. Slavery is still a possibility if you are a Jew.

Bondage is a very live possibility and threat beyond the Exodus. But is there one who arises, who brings to an end permanently the threat of slavery and bondage, who breaks the bondage of the law and the tyranny of sin? Indeed. For there is one greater than one. And this one says to the sons of Israel, If the Son, the Son, makes you free, then you shall be free indeed.

Did we have to wait for 1776? Now I don’t mean to make light of the political freedoms that we have come to enjoy in this land of ours. But is there a liberty that is greater, so far greater than even that politically? A liberty that no man can take away from us, which we are privileged to enjoy because of the ministry of the Spirit of God in us and for us. We are then set at liberty in our obedience and in our faith. And this liberty dispels bondage. Permanently. Permanently.

Truly there is one greater than Elisha. able to make the true sons, the true sons of Israel free, free indeed, free from the dominion of sin and the curse and tyranny of the law. This one, greater than the Elisha, provides the spirit beyond measure. the spirit to whom he is inseparably bound, and with whom he is identified. He provides that spirit beyond measure in a superabundance that testifies to an eternal and everlasting freedom for the sons of God.

Do you remember the wedding at Cana? It’s all there. Read the story of the wedding at Cana, and then read 2 Kings 4, 1-7. It’s all there. The superabundance of the Spirit comes, granting the freedom of celebration before God. Think of the aspects of that story.

The wine runs out. And what is brought down for Jesus? Well, he brings, brought to him is, are the six water pots. The pots that can contain from 20 to 30 gallons worth of wine. Now, I try to multiply that by six, and how many do you get? You get anywhere between 120 and 180 gallons worth of wine. Now, who’s going to consume that amount of wine?

You see, it’s indicative of the superabundance of the Spirit. The coming superabundance given by the Spirit of God. Those stone water pots were sanctified, set apart for the Jewish rite of ceremonial cleansing. They are indicative of the provisions of the law. When Jesus turns the water into wine, he defiles them. They can’t be used for that purpose. Kosher is gone. You can’t cleanse them.

The spirit beyond measure, the superabundance. eternal and everlasting liberty given us. All of us then conspire. We march through the pages of the Old Testament into the New, and as we reflect, we see how wonderfully, how beautifully it all fits together. The darkness so great upon mankind that even the best in Israel couldn’t see it as they were marching through it. They could hardly perceive what was happening. They could hardly intuit what was taking place.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.