2 Kings 4:1-7
Today in the Bible
Portion of scripture
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, [even] empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought [the vessels] to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, [There is] not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. - 2 Kings 4:1-7 KJV
Thoughts
She was already in a bad financial position. Her husband was dead, and she was a woman. This means that she did not have the opportunities a man would have in this culture to provide for herself.
If she were to loose her 2 sons she would be in a much worse financial position. Her sons could provide for her, but if they were taken to be slaves then she would be all alone with little hope.
Obviously this was a miracle, the oil did not run out.
This was an act of mercy - she did not have enough oil to fill the bottles, but God gave to her what she did not earn.
This was also an act of grace - though she had enough debt to cause her sons to be enslaved God intervened and her sons were spared.
Observations
A prophets widow cried unto Elisha the prophet.
The creditor. They must have owed money.
She was going to loose her 2 sons.
They were going to be slaves
Elisha wanted to help her.
Elisha planned on taking what she had and using that to make her prosper
Elisha asked her to gather pots, as many as she could
She was instructed to shut the door and fill the bottles
The pot of oil was able to fill all of the bottles
Elisha instructed her to sell the oil to pay her debts