Podcast 77, Story if Elisha, “Pt 3”

One quickly sees a parallel between the miracles of Elijah and the miracles of Elisha.

2 Kings 4:1

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

These were very harsh times that the widow lost not only her husband but was now about to lose her sons to a bondsman. We soon discover that Elisha’s faith is as strong as was the faith of Elijah, his mentor.

2 Kings 4: 2-6

And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

We are reminded of the miracle of Elijah and the widow, but our hearts also turn to the first miracle of Jesus.

John 2:1-11

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

A firkin equals 8 or 9 gallons. The total amount would have been over 100 gallons of wine. We immediately think of the perfect faith of Jesus, but we must also consider the tremendous faith of his mother in her son. One wonders what else she has witnessed in her son as he grew to manhood. Just so we must also consider the faith of the mother and wife who approached Elisha. One verity that is never broken is that faith always precedes the miracle. In both cases the women first had to act; that is they had to follow the instructions of the Prophet Elisha and Jesus. It is noteworthy that with every miracle there appears first an act of faith, but that act is always within the power of the one asking for the miracle. The message is clear. Often God asks of us small and simple things yet from those small and simple things great miracles occur. One wonders how many of us miss out on miracles because we fail to observe the small and simple things?