ELISHA AND WINDOW

ELISHA AND WINDOW

I have read 2nd Kings in all forms of translations. The narrative talks about Elisha and the Widow’s Olive Oil. The main characters in the story are Elisha, a widow, two sons, and a creditor.

The plot

There was a woman who had just lost her husband. The widow had two sons. The widow owed a creditor some money, but she did not have any money to pay back the creditor. The woman approached a prophet of a lord called Elisha. The creditor was about to take the widow’s sons to work as slaves(Willmington, 2018). Elisha asked the woman what she had in the house, and the woman said that she was remaining with a small amount of olive oil.

Elisha told the woman to collect all empty bottles from the neighbors, and after that, she should close the door together with her sons and start filling the empty jars. The oil stopped flowing when all bottles were filled(Willmington, 2018). The widow returned to Elisha and told him about how she had filled a lot of jars with the oil, the servant of God requested her to go and sell the oil, pay the debts. After repaying the debts the remaining amount, she should use it with his sons.

Interpretation

The story of Elisha and the widow emphasizes more about faith. The first incident of faith is shown by the woman when she was told by the prophet to gather empty bottles. The woman had only little Olive oil left in the house, but when she was spoken by the prophet to refill them, she did question him. This is because she had faith. We also see that God never forsakes his people no matter how bad the situation is, and He comes when we call upon him..

Correlation

The story of the widow and Olive oil represents how some widows are being neglected in the society. Some people take advantage of the less fortunate in the community, as we can see in the case of a creditor who was about to take the widow’s sons for slavery(Evans,2016). The story teaches us that God is a justice God, and He is always there for the poor and the rich.

References

Evans, T. L. (2016). God’s Special Trio: Foreigners, Fatherless, and Widows. Journal of Adventist        Mission Studies, 12(2), 121-130.

Willmington, H. (2018). The Chapters of 2 Kings.