Limited Only By Faith

INTRO

The phrase for 1 Kings was Something Greater, and the phrase for 2 Kings is Surviving Seed. All we’ve looked at in both books is fulfilled in Christ. The failure of the prophets, priests, and kings of God’s people points to the necessity of Christ. Christ was the ideal combination of these three offices. As a Prophet, Christ’s word far surpasses that of the great prophet Elijah (Matthew 17:1–5; Hebrews 1:1–2). Christ is a Priest superior to any of those recorded in Kings (Hebrews 7:22–27). And 2 Kings vividly illustrates the need for Christ as our reigning King. When asked if He was King of the Jews, Jesus affirmed He was (Matthew 27:11). Christ is a King greater than their greatest king. The reign of each of the twenty-six rulers came to an end, but Christ will reign on the throne of David forever (1 Chronicles 17:14; Isaiah 9:6–7). He is “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11–16). Consider that Christ has given gifts to be used in the church (Ephesians 4:7–8, 11–16) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying, the building up of the body of Christ. Christ gives these because He is the fullness of all five gifts, so some are: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

One other picture from 1 and 2 Kings is that of fathers of the faith. Elijah mentored Elisha, like Moses mentored Joshua, and Paul mentored Timothy. We need fathers and mothers in the church!

TEACHING

Chapter 4 contains four miracles: the refilling of the widow’s oil, raising the Shunammite’s son, purifying the pot of stew, and the feeding of one hundred men.

2 Kings 4:1–7: One of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha for help in saving her sons from slavery (v. 1). Josephus said the woman was the widow of the prophet Obadiah. Elisha asked what he could do for her and what she had in the house. She had only a jar of oil (v. 2). Elisha told her to collect empty jars from all the neighbors (v. 3). Notice how God used people around her to help her. Wiersbe points out, “God often begins with what we already have.”¹(Exodus 4:2; Luke 5; John 6).

John Maxwell says, “There’s something about ‘nothing’ that moves God’s hand. He loves leading us to places where we can lean on nothing but His provision.” The woman did as Elisha said, and she filled all the borrowed vessels with oil (vv. 4–5). The oil stopped flowing when there were no more empty vessels (v. 6). Constable said, “The vessels were the measure of the oil. In other words, divine power waited on faith—faith measured the active resources of God on the occasion.”²The amount of oil she received was limited to the number of vessels she had, and that was controlled by her faith (2 Kings 13:18–19). Maybe we need to dream bigger and believe for more. Maybe God will fill to the measure what we’ve believed and prepared for (Romans 4:17)! Nelson’s Commentary explains, “Elisha met not only her immediate needs but the long-range ones as well.”³This is a foreshadow of Christ who gave it all to pay our debt so we can live.

2 Kings 4:8–26: Elisha met the Shunammite woman who gave him a place to stay, and he prophesied that she would have a son. Later, her son died, and she ran to find Elisha to help her.

2 Kings 4:27: Although Elisha had heard numerous times from the Lord, the Lord hid from him what the woman needed (v. 27). In the New Testament, we are encouraged to earnestly desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1). God does not want only to be studied but to be experienced. Practice listening to and hearing the voice of the Lord. Take chances in public, and then come back to the Lord in private. Keep walking it out as you learn, grow, develop, and pursue Him.

CLOSING

We need to know the voice of the Lord through His Word, but we also need to “hear” the voice of the Lord. Not everything is written in Scripture. In Matthew 28, the disciples were told to go and make disciples. That means we need to be ready for the person we meet on aisle 4 at Walmart to make disciples as we listen to the Lord.