134 – Oil, Stew, Bread, and Ax
II Kings 4:1-4 38-44 6:1-7
Elisha was in charge of the school of the prophets. There are several miracles associated with that group of young men:
One of the prophets died. His wife came to Elisha and said, “You know my husband followed the Lord and honored him. When he died, he owed a man some money. Now that man is coming to collect. He is going to take my two sons and sell them as slaves.”
The prophet said, “Let me think. Surely I can help you. Tell me, do you have anything in your house that is valuable?”
She said, “No, I don’t have anything of value in the house. Well, I do have a small jar of oil.”
Elisha said, “Go to all of your neighbors and borrow as many containers as they have. Don’t stop with just a few. Once you have them, go into your house with your sons and close the door. Pour oil into all those containers. Each time one is full, set it aside and fill the next one.”
She and her sons went to every house and borrowed as many jars as they could. They took them into their house and closed the door. She then started pouring the oil into each jar. Her sons kept bringing her the empty ones. When they were all full, she turned and said, “Son, bring me another container.”
He said, “Mother, there are no more.” With that, the oil stopped.
She ran and told the man of God what had happened. He said, “Go and sell the oil. Pay your debt and live on what is left over.”
At another time, there was a famine so severe that there was very little to eat. When Elisha returned from a trip, the prophets gathered around to listen to him teach. He said to a servant, “Fix a large pot of stew for these men.”
One of the young men went into the forest to get some herbs for the stew. He found a vine of wild gourds and didn’t know they were poisonous. He gathered as many as he could carry, cut them up, and put them in the stew.
Once it was ready, some men tasted it and realized what had happened. They yelled, “Man of God. Watch out. There is death in the pot. Don’t eat it.”
Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” They gave him the flour and he threw it in the pot.
He then said, “Come, eat.” Everyone ate, and there was nothing wrong with the stew.
Once a man came to Elisha with 20 small loaves of barley bread. It was the first bread from the harvest. The man of God said, “Serve this to the prophets so they can enjoy it.”
“Sir, there are 100 men, and we only have 20 loaves of bread. There isn’t enough for everyone.”
Elisha said, “Give it to them. The Lord says there will be enough, and we’ll have some left over.”
So the bread was served to the men, and it was just like the Lord promised. There was enough for everyone, with some left over.
There came a time when the prophets realized their facilities were too small for them. Elisha gave them permission to go to the Jordan River and cut some logs for a new building. He even agreed to go with them.
One of the men borrowed an iron ax and was using it to cut down a tree. Suddenly the ax head fell off and went into the water. The man yelled, “Master! I borrowed that ax and now it’s ruined.
Elisha said, “Where did it fall into the water?”
The man pointed to the spot. Elisha then cut a stick and threw it in the water at the spot the man showed him. The ax head floated to the surface. The man got it and fixed the ax.
