2 Kings 4

THE stories related in this portion of God’s word, read in the light of the New Testament, teach us of forgiveness and life for the sinner, and of Christ’s sufficiency for the believer.
The widow’s oil is a proverb of exhaustless supply, and is a fit emblem of divine grace. The empty vessels in her house illustrate needy hearts; for so long as there was one vessel to be filled, whether large or small, the oil stayed not. Well may we say of our need, whatever it be, God’s grace can meet it, and, in a sense, the greater our need, the more is God’s grace magnified by meeting it; the larger the vessel, the more wonderful seemed the little jar of oil as the widow poured out. How her poor heart would rise up blessing Jehovah as she saw vessel after vessel filled as full as each could hold with the ceaseless oil!
But how came the widow to know the richness of the pot of oil? Her sons were about to be sold for debt. She had no possible way of delivering herself or them; her creditor was at the door; and having “nothing to pay,” the bondsman’s fate was before her eyes. It was in her depths of distress that the poor bankrupt betook herself to Elisha, the man of God, from whom she learned that (as Elisha’s name signifies) God is salvation!
Lesson of all lessons the sweetest to learn in the heart―God is salvation! Do we need forgiveness of the debt of our sins? Do we owe the five hundred pence, or the fifty? God is salvation! When the debtors had “nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.” Look well over your religious stores, dear fellow-sinner; what have you left? If your answer be, “I am destitute; not one good work, not one worthy desire, not one holy prayer―no; should justice put in its claim, I am hopelessly lost; I must be sold into endless captivity,”―then be it with you as with the widow; for there is―bless God for it!―still the pot of oil, still His boundless grace to meet all your need. Your need called forth His grace.
God forgives us our sins upon the principle of grace, through Jesus, who shed His blood. Let none think that God’s salvation is mere kindness. Kindness it is indeed to love us as He does; but righteousness as well as kindness is to be found in God’s forgiveness, since it is alone in Jesus that we obtain forgiveness―alone in Him who died for our sins―alone by His precious blood― “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Ephesians 1:7.)
God can now forgive, and yet uphold His own righteousness. Yes, the cross, the blood of His dear Son, testifies to God’s holiness as nothing else can; for were He to punish every sinner forever, even that would not show His hatred of sin as does the blood of His Son. Moreover, since Jesus has paid the debt, God’s righteousness is shown out by His forgiving guilty sinners who trust in Jesus and in His blood.
We invite you, dear sinner, to partake of God’s grace, to believe according to His word, and forever to be freed from the creditor.
But the widow found somewhat beyond having her debts paid in God’s grace toward her. She had more than enough. After her debts were paid, there was still a fund of riches in her hand. What was she to do with it? “Live upon it,” was the divine word. Live in the famine-stricken land upon the unmerited bounty of God! Very precious to the saved sinner’s heart is the knowledge that he is not only saved by grace, but that so long as he tarries in this sin-stricken world―a world where there is a mighty famine for all that sustains the soul―he has God’s grace to live upon!
Dear friend, do not let us shut up God’s grace to the bare fact of the forgiveness of sins. Just suppose the poor widow and her sons freed from the creditor’s hand―saved from bondage, yet without a penny to carry them through the years of famine. What a mercy to be saved, we might say; yes, but would such a salvation answer to the character of God? Far from it. And while we are verily saved from all our sins, each one being forever forgiven when we believe in Him who died for us, there is also a boundless supply for each hour of our lives; there is a fullness which our wants can never exhaust, and the Lord delights in our making Him our resource at all times, drawing from His treasury, so that we may say, “Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace, [grace heaped on grace].” (John 1:16.)
Again, fellow-sinner, we would ask you, Are your sins forgiven? Do you know the grace of God? Do you believe in Jesus who died for our redemption? And if you are saved, then do you trust in God for every day, for the future and for the present, as well as the past? There are some―and we speak of forgiven sinners―who know no more of the grace of God than that He has saved their souls. They do not realize His grace for every day in this famine-stricken world.
Accept God’s grace for the payment of your debts, and live upon the rest. May the blessed Spirit make you to know grace.