Major Malfunctions (Part A)

The limitation was in the availability of empty vessels. So if there's a work that God wants to do and He can't find a vessel, an honorable vessel to fill with His Spirit to do the work is very disappointing.

I don't want to be that person that is not available. And again, a basic principle of ministry, of serving in the church, is not so much your ability, but your availability. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of 2 Kings.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the Book of 2 Kings chapter 3 as he begins his message, Major Malfunctions. 2 Kings chapter 4, Major Malfunctions. That's the title, and there are five of them in this chapter. Malfunctions happen in life because of sin, and these stories bring it out. Now the first one concerning this widow, a distinction needs to be made because he's going to interact, Elisha the prophet, is going to interact with two principal female figures, and it is this first one that is a widow and the second one is not.

And I hope that will clear it up if you've missed that. Verse 1, a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared Yahweh, and the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves. Well, these sons of the prophets, who we read about mostly in Kings, they don't show up in Judah, they show up in the Northern Kingdom, perhaps a remnant of the faithful because many of the priests and Levites relocated to Judah when Jeroboam set up the false centers of worship. The fact that she is a widow and has two sons indicates that these prophets were not living the celibate monastery life. They were citizens like everybody else. This first one is a heartbreaking, urgent need.

If you knew this lady, if you were there in the village where she lived, and you heard about this, you would put yourself in her place and you'd be horrified. The loss of her husband compounded by this risk of losing her sons because debts can't be paid. And the law, the Hebrew law, regulated civil debts and how they were handled. The creditors could not take advantage of the debtor and vice versa.

There were good laws, but there were laws nonetheless. They would take them as slaves but they couldn't treat them like slaves, treat them like servants, and if the year of Jubilee came along they would be able to dismiss them. But the Jubilee ran 50 years, so it depends on where you were. A wise businessman wouldn't enter into certain arrangements knowing that the Jubilee was coming. I'm sure that was going on.

Anyway, Exodus and Leviticus did not want to be very clear about how this was to be handled. Either way, she's in trouble, big trouble. Verse 2, so Elisha said to her, what shall I do for you? Tell me.

What do you have in the house? And she said, your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil. Well, that's all he needs to work with.

We'll find that out. But at first he doesn't know what to do with this. I mean, she's coming to him. He's the man of God and she's looking for help. He does not offer her money. I find that very interesting, and also interesting that initially he's at a loss.

What do you want me to do? But then his formula, as he's thinking this through, he's in dialogue with her, which if he was not in dialogue with her, the solution would not surface, come to the surface. And so he's going to use the little that she has.

What do you have? Of course, she tells him, that jar of oil. So emerging from his inquiry is the solution. In verse 3, then he said, go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels. Do not gather just a few.

So he says, go to your neighbors, get as many jars and jugs as you can get. Elisha is getting the neighbors involved and helping this woman out. They, knowing her situation, would have been more than happy to help. Anything they could do. They could not go around the law.

They had to either pay the debt or pay the consequences. And this would have been a very exciting thing, but nobody knows what's happening except the prophet. Or he'd get a lot of jars. Are you going to sell jars?

What's going on with this? And verse 4, I was tempted to say something corny, like jaw the memory, but I didn't think you'd care for it. Verse 4, and when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons.

Then pour into all the vessels and set aside the full ones. Thrice emphasized in this chapter is shut the door. It's private. It's no one's business what she's doing.

It's a need to know basis. Ministry is not a spectator sport. Imagine someone wanting in on the operation after they found out. Elisha can make oil. Remember they did that to the Lord? They found out he could make bread and they were going to make him the king. Well, if they can force him to be king, he's not king.

They're the king. Well, anyhow, I like that part. You know, loose lips sink ships. Then pour it into all the vessels and set aside the full ones.

So as you fill one up, put it on the side, do another one. She had her part to play. She had a role.

There was something for her to do in this. Peter found himself in a similar situation when they challenged the Lord on taxes. Matthew chapter 17, Jesus speaking, Nevertheless, lest we offend them. I'd love to have heard the tone because it was a zinger towards those that were hypocrites all around.

Nevertheless, lest we offend them. This is what Peter had to do. Go to the sea, cast in a hook and take the fish that comes up first. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money and take that and give it to them for me and for you. Couldn't you just like put under a rock or something?

I got to do all of this, right? We have our role. We have an interesting, this is right down Peter's alley.

He was a fisherman. He didn't ask him to do, I find it interesting, he didn't ask him to do something that was foreign to him. We're going to come across one of these groups, someone that is, doesn't know what they're doing. Not just one person, it's a bunch of them. And they almost kill people because of it.

They meant well. But people almost died. It was a major malfunction. Well the malfunction in this one is her husband died.

And she can't pay the debt. Verse 5, so she went from him and shut the door, her and her sons who brought the vessels to her and she poured it out. Her sons, co-laborers, through the miracle. They're going to be first hand witnesses to this. They're old enough to go follow instructions and to talk because they're going to speak. Again, none of them know where this is going but they obey.

They obey the prophet. She came and asked for help and he said, okay do this and she, instead of giving him a hard time, she goes off and running with her orders. Knowing mom, she probably turned it into a craft. Hey boys, we have the project today.

Let's see who can fill the most jars without spilling anything. I wonder how that went. Verse 6, now it came to pass when the vessels were full that she said to her son, bring me another vessel. And he said to her, there is not another vessel. So the oil ceased. So there he is in dialogue.

He's old enough to engage like that. Here's an interesting spiritual application to this sixth verse. The limitation was not in the supply of oil. The limitation was in the availability of empty vessels. So if there's a work that God wants to do and he can't find a vessel, an honorable vessel to fill with his spirit to do the work, is very disappointing. I don't want to be that person that is not available. And again, a basic principle of ministry, of serving in the church, is not so much your ability, but your availability. What good is it if you could be the best at this or that, but you're never available to do it? Well, it calls for sacrifice.

I know, I know a lot of folks who want to hear that, but these are the facts. The antidote for not being motivated to do something is prayer, is to talk to God. It is also an antidote to gossip. If you have a problem talking about people, talk to them, talk about them to God. And watch what happens. If it's anything like my experiences, well, I've really got no other things to do.

Before I can get to criticizing somebody else, I start with me, and by the time I'm done, I'm so depressed, I don't want to talk about anybody. But in the earlier days, I tried that out and it worked very well. You have less chance of being the troublemaker in the picture if you are the prayer maker. Verse 7, then she came and told the man of God, and he said, go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons live on the rest. Well, things didn't go as planned.

Her husband died, left her with debt. That was a malfunction. Now it has been resolved. He is referred to as the man of God. He's the only one referred to as the man of God. Well, the holy man of God, but here, just the man of God, 29 times.

He is called this in 2 Kings, 11 of them in this chapter alone. It's important, and it's on purpose. It should cause us to think about these things. That's why they're there. One other reason why these things are there is for our faith, where you can build up on all the Bible knowledge you have. You still got to go out and do things for the Lord by faith. We're going to catch Elijah stuck in that situation where there is a malfunction, and he still has to function nonetheless, such is life.

She reports to the prophet, and he gives her the prophet. Yeah, pun. You mean I can keep it? Because he says, take the oil. You know, take the jugs, sell it. And whatever profit you're left with, that abundance is yours.

Debt paid with surplus. That which I receive becomes mine to steward. In verse 8, now it happened one day that Elijah went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food.

So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. It's so simple, the language, right? It's so simple here.

But just down to earth human talk. Shunem is about 20 miles from Mount Carmel, where we know the prophet is going. Where he's coming from is not stated. Likely his hometown, which is 20 miles to the west. So moving to the east it is. So moving from east to west to Mount Carmel, it's this trek that puts her right in the middle. It's 40 mile distance if he's coming from his house, or if he's coming from some area. Same distance there about.

The average traveler could walk 15 to 20 miles a day. We've calculated. If you're not pressed, if you're in a force march, there's a whole other story. You've got that whole caterpillar's elastic thing to battle. But if you're just going by yourself, you move at your pace and not too hard. And also, you know, it could be on a donkey or a mule or some other animal, maybe a cat.

Well, have you tried it? All right, that's silly. But coming back to this, Shunem's the halfway point to Mount Carmel. And in this town, this part of Israel, Abishag, the attendant to King David, when he couldn't keep body heat and she was, you know, assigned that position, she was from Shunem also, likely the same character in mind when Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon.

He probably either built it off of her character or out of the real events. Anyway, Shunem is not an unknown city in the scripture. This notable woman here means she was wealthy and well-known, an honorable woman. A great woman is closer to the Hebrew. And this is intimated by the fact that her husband has these servants and they're out working the harvest. They build a room for the prophet. They furnish the room for the prophet. And so they have some means.

They're important people in Shunem. And this is just great because, again, you know, poorer people have a tendency of trying to badmouth richer people. And that's not fair if that's all you got. I mean, people are good and evil, not based on their income. Though money is a root of evil, it is not the root. Plenty of poor people are evil without any money.

In fact, trying to get the money is often part of the problem. So I like this balance that we have from the scripture. It says here that she persuaded him to eat some food. So she wanted to serve. She has these Elisha sightings. He's walking by her house and so one day she's like, you know what, next time he comes by, I'm going to offer him something to eat.

She probably knows he's going to Mount Carmel. He's a well-known prophet. And he's not, you know, like Elijah. He just never knew where he was, when he would show up. But Elisha is not that way. He's more around the people and he's not as private as Elijah. So she wants to serve the Lord by serving his servant. And so it was at the bottom of verse 8, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. Well, I think he looked forward to this rest stop and I think it's something very noble about her in that he's comfortable enough to accept the invitation. Because a lot of times, you know, it's not going to work.

Just, you know, for whatever reasons. But he's very comfortable with her. And it's, again, a very real and human part of the story.

I like it a lot. Verse 9, and she said to her husband, look now, I know that this is a holy man of God who passes by us regularly. Okay, we just pause there midway through. What a distinction. A holy man of God. She is, again, only used here that he was holy. The adjective put there.

A title that is bestowed on someone and not self-designation. He couldn't, you know, to walk up and say, well, I'm Elijah, the holy man of God. That would have been like, well, you probably do penance, don't you?

Something like that. But it's not at all the case. He's just being Elijah. And people are recognizing him for the proof of the prophet is the prophet's life. 2 Peter chapter 1, prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And that fits Elijah perfectly. And not only him. It's just he's the one that is recorded as being called the holy man of God. Verse 10, please let us make a small room.

She's speaking to her husband. A small upper room on the wall. And let us put a bed for him there. And a table and a chair and a lampstand.

So it will be whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there. I mean, she's just looking. What can I do? You know, I've got the resources. What can I do for this man of God? And he's not going to abuse this at all. In fact, he's going to look to bless her because of this. These accommodations are similar to Elijah's in Zarephath. Remember the widow there, she was making her last meal. And he showed up and had an upper room for himself also. Verse 11, and it happened one day that he came there and he turned into the upper room and lay down there. Verse 12, then he said to Gehazi, his servant, call this Shunammite woman.

And when he had called her, she stood before him. Alright, well this has to be understood in the context of the whole, the entire dialogue. The latter verse is between Elijah, Gehazi, and the woman. And she comes to the doorway, and we pick that up in I think verse 15, and not into the room. We'll comment on that when we get there. Well, in great reverence, deference to the prophet, waiting to hear why she has been summoned to the room.

Gehazi, he is a very useful servant in this matter, and he shows up and he's doing a lot of things here. Looking at my notes from years ago, I despised him. I did not really despise, just you know, really like, what like this? And I don't feel that way anymore. Maybe I've got enough hits in my own life to say, you know, get a guy a break.

Life's full of malfunctions. Anyway, I'm not saying he's an all that good boy, but he's not a bad boy either. Hopefully I can bring some of that out. It will come up again in chapter 8. Anyway, still, in spite of his usefulness, he's given this privilege of serving one of Israel's greatest prophets, and he's going to mess it up. And again, we'll come back to some of this. We have to work through as we go along, verse 13. And he said to him, saying now to her, Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care.

What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? And she answered, I dwell among my own people. So the prophet wants to help. It's confusing how this is worded. Because in verse 13, Gehazi's, and this seems to be Gehazi's instructions from him to her, because the pronouns move around. It's like, wait a minute, who's talking here? It doesn't take away any of the truths.

It's just a little difficult for us to figure out, but I don't think impossible. So the prophet wants to bless her in return. What can I do for you? So initially, Gehazi, the best I can work it out, he initially enters into dialogue with her based on Elijah telling him what to say. Then she departs in verse 14 and is recalled in verse 15. Also, I should mention this room that the prophet has is large enough for Gehazi too. He's sharing in the meals also, and that is brought out, look, you have been concerned for us, it says here in verse 13, with all this care. So there's not a little cubby hole that the prophet is in.

He's in a desk, a lamp, and I'm sure they've looked out for his servant also. Where he says he makes the offer to speak to the king on her behalf, it shows that he has this influence, the prophet does, with Jehoram. That was the king, one of the three stooges, that went out to the desert with their armies in no water. And Elijah is the one that asked for the musician to come and told them to dig trenches in the pools, the water filled, made pools with water for the animals and the men. So Jehoram, that king in this area, this territory, he likes, he has this respect for Elijah, and that will come out in later chapters as we go through this. Elijah, he's not going to ask anything from the king for himself, but he will ask on her behalf. She is a subject of the king, it is very appropriate. When she says, I dwell among my own people, she's saying, I want nothing to do with Jehoram.

I'm fine without him, here amongst, in this little village. Likely, she held Jehoram in contempt because of his idolatry, because we know she is attracted to Yahweh, and that's why she's looking to bless this prophet. He's just, you know, she's enamored with the holiness that he brings into the northern kingdom and into her world.

This will change. By the time chapter 8 comes, she will be stripped of her property, and guess who is going to be the one to get it back for her? Gehazi, after he's smitten with leprosy.

That's why you got to kind of pack off some of this stuff and not have these hard opinions. I mean, unlike Judas Iscariot, you know he's a bad guy. The Bible calls him the son of hell.

So, there's no, the jury is not out on him. There are no redeeming features about him. You can say, well, he was a good thief about that, but so there are some characters in scripture that there's no guessing. Their sins, Amnon, one of the most despicable people in the Bible, for example. Saul, what good thing was there about Saul? Anyway, Gehazi's got some good qualities. Verse 14, so he said, what then is to be done for her? So, you see, it switches again. He's, you know, he's talking to, say now to her up in verse 13, she answers back and then Elijah now in verse 14 says, what then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, actually, she has no son and her husband is old. You know, 20 years ago, a verse like that would not have meant much to me.

He's old. I mean, after a while you start getting sensitive. I got feelings too. Anyway, coming back, I know, it's been a hard day's work for you. I'm me on the other end, just been sitting here reading the Bible all day. Thanks for joining us for today's edition on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We trust that what you've heard today in the book of 2 Kings has been something to remember. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series, go to crossreferenceradio.com. Once more, that's crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. Our time is about up, but we hope you'll tune in again next time as we continue on in the book of 2 Kings. We look forward to that time with you, so make a note in your calendar to join Pastor Rick as he teaches from the Bible right here on Cross Reference Radio.