A Study Of The Miraculous – Part XI
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2 Kings 4:1-7
1 ¶ 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.
2 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.
3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
v.6 And it came to pass …
*What came to pass?
> The end of the miracle came to pass!
* A miracle is often just the beginning of a work of God, not the end.
* the miracle of breaking the fishes and loaves required work be done afterward to gather up the 12 baskets of fish and loaves, most likely to give to the young lad who had sown the 2 little fishes and 5 barley loaves.
> I have heard it said that some of the so called miracles of the bible were no miracles at all.
* I have heard that the Red Sea was very narrow and shallow at the time of the year that the Israelites would have crossed it. Then the miracle was that all of the Egyptians drowned in only 6” of water.
* I have heard that the loaves of bread were much larger in Jesus day and that when the bible talks of a loaf it could mean something quite enormous. The miracle there is that a lady could have been led to pack five of these large loaves in one small lad’s lunch and that he could have carried them all day following Jesus across the countryside.
* when the vessels were full,
* the miracle does not have to end until all the vessels are full
* she may not have been keeping track but God was and even others around her were.
* At times people with their hands on the miracle are completely unaware of how many they are affecting and filling and how many are left to fill.
* Perhaps her focus, as it should be, was on one vessel at a time
* You ever see people, let me pick on preachers, who love crowds, love congregations, love the masses but dislike individual people … the one on one experience.
* They love crowds but dislike people. (they come out late and leave early and have a protective barrier around themselves as though they should not be touched. I’m not talking about the sanity of reserving some time for yourself and your family … and at times busy in thought, study or engaged in hearing from God for the service, but some get ridiculous)
> there are some who love to preach to the group but will not spend time with the person
> If you don’t have the smell of sheep on you then you are most likely not a shepherd … but that’s ok if you are not a shepherd, but if you are, then one needs to stroke the sheep individually, one sheep at a time.
> The more sheep a rancher has, the more shepherds he needs to employ because sheep need to be touched and treated as individuals and at times feel just a little bit special, as they all are.
* one of the things I love most about God is that He knows me and gives me His personal attention. He makes me feel like I am the only vessel He is focused on for our time together.
v.6 And it came to pass when the vessels were full:
* God has this thing about full
> That My house might be full (Luke 14:23)
> My cup runneth over (Psalms 23)
> John 15:11 (joy full)
> John 21:11 (full net)
> Mark 6:43 (12 baskets full)
> Mat 14:20; 15:37 (baskets full)
* that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel.
* What is the proper response to authority when they have asked for something you cannot do
> Hebrews 3:7 Remember those who … consider … conduct
> Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
> * Teach me, love me, pray with me and walk with me, but do not ask me to violate the Holy Spirit
> not just a violation of personal preferences
Note: I believe it is a dangerous and despicable thing to champion personal desires cloaked in the robe of “God said”
> not a small conviction when a bigger one is at stake
* Romans 13:1-6 Do not resist the governmental authority and their dictates
* Titus 3:1 Obey magistrates
* Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
> learn from your leaders, that’s what they are there for
* good leaders show us what to do
* bad leaders show us what not to do
* both are valid lessons of life
> get educated not frustrated
> do not sacrifice the big picture for some small conviction (most who do this are protecting some personal preference which looks right and sounds right and has some valid points of defense in the eyes of reasonable thinkers but not before the whole counsel of God’s Word and Will)
> an appeal to reason in an effort to outweigh or out maneuver the Word of God is one of the first signs of deception. The devil at work. The serpent used this in the garden of Eden.
> Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
* The same God who said you can have faith and eat meat also said not to eat it if it causes your brother to stumble.
