Miracle of the Oil

2 KINGS 4: 1-7


In this story, we will look at Elisha as a type of Christ. We will also picture the woman in this story as a type of a Christian today. This woman was a widow. Her husband used to be one of Elisha’s servants who greatly feared the Lord. Her husband died however, and it became very hard for her to pay her bills.

One day the creditors came to her house. In the Bible, creditors were the people who come to your house to collect money that you owed for debts. Well, these creditors who gave the widow woman a visit that day were very wicked. Since the woman could not pay them anything, they told her that they would come and take her two young sons to be bondmen instead. Now, a bondman is a slave, someone who works without pay. Can you imagine the grief of the widow? First, she lost her husband, then she couldn’t pay her bills, and now the creditors wanted to take her young sons away to be slaves. Well, she knew who to go to when she was in trouble. She didn’t waste any time at all, she ran to find Elisha.

Elisha asked the woman what she had in her house. She ran in and came out with a little pot of oil. It was the only thing she had left in her house which had any value. Elisha told her and her sons to gather up all the vessels they could find. He even told them to borrow vessels from all the neighbors. Elisha told them not to borrow just a few, but get as many as they could.
Then Elisha said to her, “I want you and your sons to gather up all these vessels, go into your house and shut the door behind you. Then take the little pot of oil and start pouring the oil out into all the other vessels.”

She did exactly what the prophet told her, and do you know what happened? The oil never ran out! After she was finished filling the last vessel, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”
And He said “Mom, there are no more vessels to bring, they’re all filled up.”
I’m sure they had vessels stacked up to the roof. If they would have had more vessels, they could have filled them as well. You know what the Bible says? It says that the oil stayed. I, personally, think that means she had enough to last her the rest of her life.
Now it’s time to look at the woman as a type of a Christian today and Elisha as a type of Christ. She came to Elisha with a real need, something that bothered her, a prayer that needed an answer. Elisha could have worked a miracle right then and there and gave her enough money to pay her debt. But instead, he asked her a question. He asked, "What do you want me to do about it?" 4:1-2.

He wanted to communicate with her. He wanted to hear from her. Of course, he knew what to do about it. You know, the Lord wants to hear from us as well. He wants to communicate with us. And do you know what? He even knows what we need before we ask him. He just wants to hear from us.

Also, Elisha asked the woman what she had in her house. You know, the Lord asks us the same question. He asks, “What is in your house, that you can give me to work with?”
Elisha could have worked a miracle out of nothing, but he wanted something to work with. The woman brought out something small, just a little bottle of oil. That’s all she had, but that was enough for Elisha to work with. Maybe we don't think we have much to offer God. Maybe it’s just a little talent that's hidden away somewhere in this little house of clay. We need to bring it out and let the Lord work with it, and he'll multiply it. The oil didn’t multiply until she poured it out.
Also, Elisha encouraged her to pay her debt. He didn't give her a hand out. He told her something to do that would help her pay her debt. God supplied her need, but she had to do her part.
Now, why did the Lord choose oil? What is so significant about oil?

The dictionary defines oil as one of several kinds of light, viscous liquids obtained from various plants, animal substances, and minerals. It's used as lubricants, illuminants, fuel, and medicines.
Illuminate, means to enlighten, to light up, to throw light upon, to embellish. Illumination means the act of giving light.

Wow!! You know what? The Bible says that the WORD of God is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Lamps need oil or they couldn't give light. Oil is the main source for getting the light out.

Look at Matthew 25:3, The foolish took no oil for their lamps, but the wise took oil. If you’re a wise Christian, you will make sure that you have oil in your lamp. Without oil in your lamp, you couldn’t give out any light. Oil is vital to a Christian. We need to make sure our lamps are filled up every morning with that precious oil from Gods word. We can't be of much help to people if our lamps are dim, and not giving out much light. If we don't daily refuel our lamps they'll go out all together. What good is a lamp with no light??

Ps.147:3, Oil is good for healing. You can't bind up a wound without putting some kind of ointment on it, or else the wound would stick to the dressing. Ouch!! Luke 10:34 tells us that the good Samaritan poured oil, and wine on the travelers wounds. Mothers use Vaseline on diaper rashes. Creams and ointments are made from oil. Oil is good for wounds, and good for healing.
Here are some other good uses for oil. It’s good for cooking. I like my eggs fried. I wouldn’t be able to eat fried eggs without oil. I don’t like to eat dry eggs. Yuk! Oil is good for baking breads. Breads wouldn’t be light and fluffy if you didn’t use a little oil. Oil can keep things from sticking together. It’s good for rusty things. It’s also good for keeping things running such as cars, airplanes, tractors, lawn mowers, weed eaters, ships, trains, motorcycles, etc. They all need oil to run.

Can you think of any foods that give us oil? I can name a few, like peanuts, corn, olives, safflower, sunflower, and soybean. There are many more besides these. All of them provide oil.
God even gave some animals built in oil ducts. Ducks and geese can float on top of the water because they have oil on their feathers. Baby ducks, and geese do not need any swimming lessons to stay afloat. They can bob and float in the water because of the oil all over their downy feathers. Without this oil, they would drown. They use their bills to stimulate the oil ducts that God placed on the underside of their bodies. The oil ducts release the oil, and the duck can rub it on his feathers. Next time you see a duck itch himself underneath with his bill, and then start rubbing his head around all over his body, you’ll know that he’s spreading oil all over his feathers. Oil floats on top of the water. Oil is essential for these birds. Try this little experiment at home. Take a see through glass of water, and a tablespoon of any kind of oil. Put the oil into the glass of water. The oil will float on top of the water every time.

Gen. 28:18, Jacob rose early in the morning, and poured oil on the stones that he used as his pillows, and called the place ,Bethel. Bethel means, “The house of God,” or the dwelling place of the Lord. That oil must have been pretty important.

Ps. 23:5 says, Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Isaiah 61:3 talks about the oil of joy. In 1 Kings 1:39, Solomon is anointed with oil. Exod. 30:25 talks about Holy anointing oil.

Matt. 26:7 tells us about the woman with the alabaster box of precious ointment. She gave it to Jesus. We need to give our best to God. Even if it’s our most precious substance, something that is very costly and dear to us. We need to give him our oil, just as this woman did. In Mark 14: 3, the Bible says, that she had to break the box of ointment. Sometimes we won't give him our best until we are broken.

This woman is also mentioned in the Bible in Luke 7:37. In this passage the Bible clearly states that she was a sinner, just like you and me. In verse 46, the Lord gets all over the Pharisees for condemning the woman, when they themselves did nothing to anoint the Lord’s head with oil. The Lord is very concerned about that little bottle of oil that we as sinners need to break and pour at his feet. That means more to him than all the good works and self-righteousness of all the religious people in the world. You can also read about this in John 12:3, and 11:2. This must have been very important for the Lord to record it so many times. God is so very concerned about that little bottle of oil.

I bet you didn’t know that there was so much we could learn from this little three-letter word, OIL. Huh?