You are the God who works wonders [miracles]; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. - Psalm 77:14
Earlier in this series, as you may remember, there was a sermon titled, “The Miracles of Elijah”. It was based on 1 Kings 17 and 18. In that message, we read that Elijah blessed the widow’s flour and oil so that neither would run out during the years of drought. We also learned that when her young son died, by God’s divine might Elijah raised him from the dead. In this morning’s message, “The Miracles of Elisha”, we will see some striking parallels between the ministry of these 2 great Old Testament prophets.
I. THE WIDOW’S OIL (2 Kings 4:1-7)
Elisha was a leader of the sons of the prophets, a group of students and disciples with whom he met and taught on a regular basis. The widow of 1 of these young disciples approached Elisha and told him that her husband, his servant, had died and left her in debt. Their creditor was planning to take her 2 sons as slaves. Elisha asked the widow if she had any assets with which to pay him, and she answered that all she had was a large jar of oil.
Elisha instructed the widow to gather as many jars, bottles, and empty vessels as she could find. She collected them from neighbors, friends, and any one who’d donate. Then, following Elisha’s command, she went into a private room and began to pour the oil from her single jar into these many empty vessels. Miraculously, it filled vessel after vessel until all she had collected were full. When she finished, Elisha told her to go sell the oil necessary to pay her debt and that she and her sons could live on the rest.
This miracle is striking to me in that God’s provision was only limited by the widow’s capacity to receive it. Had she gathered even more jars and bottles to fill, the LORD would have presumably provided even more oil for her and her sons. While she certainly received plenty to meet her immediate needs, I can’t help but wonder if she missed out. Could it be that sometimes we miss the fullness of God’s blessing because we limit it in some way ourselves?
II. THE SHUNAMMITE’S SON (2 Kings 4:8-37)
During his travels, Elisha often passed through the village of Shunem, located near the Jezreel Valley. There was a prominent woman in the village, along with her husband, who often provided meals to Elisha whenever he was in town. In fact, she even prepared a small room for him in their upper chamber with a bed, table, chair, and lamp where he could stay overnight.
In return for her kindness, Elisha asked the Shunammite woman if there was anything he might do for her - perhaps put in a good word with the king or captain of the military. She answered that neither of these suggestions was necessary and that she was content as she was. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, pointed out that she didn’t have a son and that her husband had passed his child producing years. So Elisha told the woman that she would have a son. At first she didn’t believe him, but sure enough she conceived and gave birth to a baby boy the next year.
The infant grew into a young boy, and 1 fateful morning he complained of severe head pain. Sadly, the child died at noon and his mother took him to the upper chamber and laid his body on Elsiha’s bed. Leaving him there, she hastily departed for Mt. Carmel to find Elisha. He saw her approaching and sent Gehazi to go greet her. She did not tell Gehazi what had happened, but instead waited until she reached Elisha.
Upon hearing the tragic news, Elisha gave his staff to his younger and faster servant Gehazi and instructed him to rush, non-stop, to Shunem and lay it on the deceased boy’s face. Gehazi did so, but there was no response. He returned to tell Elisha, who had himself departed for Shumen at this point, albeit at a slower pace, along with the child’s mother.
When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the upper room, prayed, and stretched himself out on the boy’s body. It suddenly became warm. Elisha walked down into the house, then back up to the room, and laid on the child again. This time the lad sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes. Elisha then called for the Shunammite woman to come, so she entered the room, saw her resurrected son, bowed in thanksgiving and awe before the prophet, and finally gathered her son in her arms and left. Elisha had raised him from the dead!
III. THE POISONOUS STEW (2 Kings 4:38-41)
When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. He asked a servant to prepare a large pot of stew for him and the sons of the prophets there. Someone went out to the field to gather herbs and found several gourds growing on a wild vine. Not knowing what they were, they took the gourds, sliced them, and cooked them in the stew. When the sons of the prophets began to eat, they immediately felt uneasy, realized that the stew was poisonous, and cried out in desperation. Elisha took some meal (ground seed), threw it into the pot, and the stew was miraculously remedied and made safe to consume. Everyone then ate safely. God had taken that which was tainted and bad and made it pure and good.
IV. THE LOAVES AND GRAIN (2 Kings 4:42-44)
A man came up from Baal-shalishah and brought Elisha 20 barley loaves and ears of grain that he’d taken from the first fruits of his harvest. He told Elisha to give them to the people so that they might eat, perhaps referring to the sons of the prophets. Nevertheless, his attendant openly doubted that this would be enough food to feed them all… some 100 people in total. Elisha answered with the word of the LORD, stating that it would be more than enough. So they set the food before the people, they all ate their fill, and there were leftovers just as the LORD had spoken.
This miracle is similar to the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 which are recorded in the gospels. On both of these occasions, Jesus fed the multitudes with just a few fish and loaves of bread. In both instances, there was food leftover afterward. These types of miracles demonstrate the marvelous and supernatural power of God to take little and multiply it above and beyond our needs. We can trust in the LORD’s provision.
V. THE FLOATING AXEHEAD (2 Kings 6:1-7)
The sons of the prophets decided that their living quarters were too cramped and they wanted to expand. With Elisha’s blessing, they went down to the Jordan River to gather beams of timber in order to build additional, meager living spaces for themselves. They asked Elisha to join them, which he did, and when they arrived they began cutting down trees. As they were doing so, 1 of the men cried out that the axehead had slipped off the handle of his borrowed ax and had flown into and sunk to the bottom of the river. Elisha came over and asked him to indicate the general area where it had fallen. When the man showed him, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it there, miraculously causing the heavy iron axehead to float to the top. Seeing it resting on the waters, Elisha told the man to take it, which he did and presumably repaired the ax.
This peculiar little miracle demonstrates God's ability to find lost things. It reminds me of the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. On a personal note, over the years I’ve dropped wedding rings (yes, plural), multiple cell phones, my favorite childhood teddy bear, rods, reels, tackle, and all sorts of other stuff in the lake. Maybe I should take Elisha with me the next time I go fishing, you know, just in case…
CONCLUSION
The miracles we’ve discussed this morning took place at various times during the reign of King Jehoram in Israel. Elisha had a remarkable ministry which lasted well over 50 years, more than twice as long as Elijah’s. Depending on who's count you use, there are 14 miracles attributed to Elisha in the book of Kings, exactly twice as many as the 7 that are credited to his predecessor Elijah. These numbers make sense of course, seeing that Elisha received a “double-portion” of Elijah’s spirit. We will talk more about Elisha’s amazing accomplishments next Sunday.
Earlier in this series, as you may remember, there was a sermon titled, “The Miracles of Elijah”. It was based on 1 Kings 17 and 18. In that message, we read that Elijah blessed the widow’s flour and oil so that neither would run out during the years of drought. We also learned that when her young son died, by God’s divine might Elijah raised him from the dead. In this morning’s message, “The Miracles of Elisha”, we will see some striking parallels between the ministry of these 2 great Old Testament prophets.
I. THE WIDOW’S OIL (2 Kings 4:1-7)
Elisha was a leader of the sons of the prophets, a group of students and disciples with whom he met and taught on a regular basis. The widow of 1 of these young disciples approached Elisha and told him that her husband, his servant, had died and left her in debt. Their creditor was planning to take her 2 sons as slaves. Elisha asked the widow if she had any assets with which to pay him, and she answered that all she had was a large jar of oil.
Elisha instructed the widow to gather as many jars, bottles, and empty vessels as she could find. She collected them from neighbors, friends, and any one who’d donate. Then, following Elisha’s command, she went into a private room and began to pour the oil from her single jar into these many empty vessels. Miraculously, it filled vessel after vessel until all she had collected were full. When she finished, Elisha told her to go sell the oil necessary to pay her debt and that she and her sons could live on the rest.
This miracle is striking to me in that God’s provision was only limited by the widow’s capacity to receive it. Had she gathered even more jars and bottles to fill, the LORD would have presumably provided even more oil for her and her sons. While she certainly received plenty to meet her immediate needs, I can’t help but wonder if she missed out. Could it be that sometimes we miss the fullness of God’s blessing because we limit it in some way ourselves?
II. THE SHUNAMMITE’S SON (2 Kings 4:8-37)
During his travels, Elisha often passed through the village of Shunem, located near the Jezreel Valley. There was a prominent woman in the village, along with her husband, who often provided meals to Elisha whenever he was in town. In fact, she even prepared a small room for him in their upper chamber with a bed, table, chair, and lamp where he could stay overnight.
In return for her kindness, Elisha asked the Shunammite woman if there was anything he might do for her - perhaps put in a good word with the king or captain of the military. She answered that neither of these suggestions was necessary and that she was content as she was. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, pointed out that she didn’t have a son and that her husband had passed his child producing years. So Elisha told the woman that she would have a son. At first she didn’t believe him, but sure enough she conceived and gave birth to a baby boy the next year.
The infant grew into a young boy, and 1 fateful morning he complained of severe head pain. Sadly, the child died at noon and his mother took him to the upper chamber and laid his body on Elsiha’s bed. Leaving him there, she hastily departed for Mt. Carmel to find Elisha. He saw her approaching and sent Gehazi to go greet her. She did not tell Gehazi what had happened, but instead waited until she reached Elisha.
Upon hearing the tragic news, Elisha gave his staff to his younger and faster servant Gehazi and instructed him to rush, non-stop, to Shunem and lay it on the deceased boy’s face. Gehazi did so, but there was no response. He returned to tell Elisha, who had himself departed for Shumen at this point, albeit at a slower pace, along with the child’s mother.
When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the upper room, prayed, and stretched himself out on the boy’s body. It suddenly became warm. Elisha walked down into the house, then back up to the room, and laid on the child again. This time the lad sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes. Elisha then called for the Shunammite woman to come, so she entered the room, saw her resurrected son, bowed in thanksgiving and awe before the prophet, and finally gathered her son in her arms and left. Elisha had raised him from the dead!
III. THE POISONOUS STEW (2 Kings 4:38-41)
When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. He asked a servant to prepare a large pot of stew for him and the sons of the prophets there. Someone went out to the field to gather herbs and found several gourds growing on a wild vine. Not knowing what they were, they took the gourds, sliced them, and cooked them in the stew. When the sons of the prophets began to eat, they immediately felt uneasy, realized that the stew was poisonous, and cried out in desperation. Elisha took some meal (ground seed), threw it into the pot, and the stew was miraculously remedied and made safe to consume. Everyone then ate safely. God had taken that which was tainted and bad and made it pure and good.
IV. THE LOAVES AND GRAIN (2 Kings 4:42-44)
A man came up from Baal-shalishah and brought Elisha 20 barley loaves and ears of grain that he’d taken from the first fruits of his harvest. He told Elisha to give them to the people so that they might eat, perhaps referring to the sons of the prophets. Nevertheless, his attendant openly doubted that this would be enough food to feed them all… some 100 people in total. Elisha answered with the word of the LORD, stating that it would be more than enough. So they set the food before the people, they all ate their fill, and there were leftovers just as the LORD had spoken.
This miracle is similar to the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 which are recorded in the gospels. On both of these occasions, Jesus fed the multitudes with just a few fish and loaves of bread. In both instances, there was food leftover afterward. These types of miracles demonstrate the marvelous and supernatural power of God to take little and multiply it above and beyond our needs. We can trust in the LORD’s provision.
V. THE FLOATING AXEHEAD (2 Kings 6:1-7)
The sons of the prophets decided that their living quarters were too cramped and they wanted to expand. With Elisha’s blessing, they went down to the Jordan River to gather beams of timber in order to build additional, meager living spaces for themselves. They asked Elisha to join them, which he did, and when they arrived they began cutting down trees. As they were doing so, 1 of the men cried out that the axehead had slipped off the handle of his borrowed ax and had flown into and sunk to the bottom of the river. Elisha came over and asked him to indicate the general area where it had fallen. When the man showed him, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it there, miraculously causing the heavy iron axehead to float to the top. Seeing it resting on the waters, Elisha told the man to take it, which he did and presumably repaired the ax.
This peculiar little miracle demonstrates God's ability to find lost things. It reminds me of the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. On a personal note, over the years I’ve dropped wedding rings (yes, plural), multiple cell phones, my favorite childhood teddy bear, rods, reels, tackle, and all sorts of other stuff in the lake. Maybe I should take Elisha with me the next time I go fishing, you know, just in case…
CONCLUSION
The miracles we’ve discussed this morning took place at various times during the reign of King Jehoram in Israel. Elisha had a remarkable ministry which lasted well over 50 years, more than twice as long as Elijah’s. Depending on who's count you use, there are 14 miracles attributed to Elisha in the book of Kings, exactly twice as many as the 7 that are credited to his predecessor Elijah. These numbers make sense of course, seeing that Elisha received a “double-portion” of Elijah’s spirit. We will talk more about Elisha’s amazing accomplishments next Sunday.