A Threefold Benefit Shown on Thanksgiving Day

Elisha had come in the place of Elijah. By this, the Lord showed that He continued to care for His church. In the name of his Sender, Elisha had already performed several wonders. By this the Lord has shown that the same Spirit that was resting upon Elijah was now resting upon Elisha.

It was a dark and difficult time in Israel, with enemies from the surrounding countries invading the land at will. In those days there lived a widow in the land. And if we listen closely, we may hear the first benefit on Thanksgiving Day explained—a discovering benefit.

For this woman began to speak of the great difficulties in her life. “Thy servant, my husband is dead.” Can you imagine what misery is in those words? Only those who have experienced such sorrow can fully understand. Some say her husband was Obadiah, but of this we cannot be sure. She continued by telling the prophet something he already knew. “And thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord.” What a wonderful testimony that is at the end of one’s life! To fear the Lord means to have a close walk with God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wisdom. Then there is a forsaking of sin and a bowing before God.

This woman said “Thou knowest.” That will be important when we come to the end of our life. It is not so much what we have spoken or what others have said of us, but what does the Lord know of me?

After the death of her husband, it was made known unto her that she owed a great debt. And the creditor came saying, “Pay what thou owest,” but she had nothing with which to pay. All her possessions, one by one, had been sold as she tried to make restitution. Now there was nothing left. She stood with empty hands. The creditor had come and said, “You have two sons; they will be bondsmen.” He had a right to this. According to the law of the land, this creditor was in his right to demand payment. Hence, this woman did not turn against the creditor and cause him to be known as a hard and unrighteous man. No, she brought all her distress to the Lord. She did not step over that which was just. She knew the creditor had a right to the payment or to her sons. And now notice, because justice was maintained, therefore this woman was in trouble.

Now we will apply that spiritually. Do we know a creditor in our life, a heavenly creditor, who comes knocking upon the door of our heart because justice must be maintained? In our day often we hear, “God is love. Jesus died for sinners. We must accept that.” But when the Lord begins in the life of a man, then he comes to know that he has sinned against that God. It becomes his inward discovery that he has a mountain of guilt. At first there is much in the house that can be sold to try to reduce that mountain, but the more that the Holy Spirit rolls back the covers, the more his eyes are opened to see that guilt can never be paid with guilt. There comes a time when he says, “I can do no good because evil lives within.” There are times when he says, “Lord, must it always be this way? Must I now always continue to sin? Will I always be a robber of Thy honor?” How the old and the new man continue to clash here! Then he begins to bow before God and to lie at the gate of heaven saying, “Lord, how must I go now? Is there a way of escape?”

If we may discover in our life this mountain of guilt and have no payment, it will drive us to the Mediator, to the Savior, to the cleansing blood.

No, that woman did not go to the creditor to complain that he was such a hard, unrighteous man, but she came upon her knees. Likewise, the child of God does not begin to complain and say, “Lord, Thou art unrighteous in demanding.” But here this child of God may bow under the righteous justice of God. Here the heavenly creditor takes him back, a little further, to Paradise, where he may see how he has come forth out of the hands of a holy God. He sees how that once man stood in the image of God, but now there is a great gulf between God and my soul. Here the depth of the fall is righteous— “I have sinned against the Lord.”

This woman acknowledged the justice of the creditor, and in like manner the sinner will take nothing away from the righteous justice of God. Where did the knowledge of her misery take this woman? It brought her to the prophet. Reader, do you know this misery? A debt you cannot pay? Where does it take you? It brings the Church of the Lord to Christ. If we may discover in our life this mountain of guilt and have no payment, it will drive us to the Mediator, to the Savior, to the cleansing blood. Then it is just as with the woman who had an issue of blood— if I can only touch the hem of His garment. Then it is as the Canaanitish woman where each step of the way she could bow deeper. Then by faith she clings unto Him, “Lord, if I am such a dog, then there can also be a little crumb for me.”

There is also a delivering benefit in the life of this woman. The prophet says, “Tell me, what hast thou in the house?” What does she have? Nothing? No, she does not say that. She says, “Not anything, save a pot of oil.” It is not much. She cannot pay her debts with this, but it is something she has received from the Lord.

Reader, may I ask, “What do you have in the house?” Some people have the world in their houses. With the world you will go lost. Some people have a house full of religion, but miss the knowledge of the great debt which brings them upon their knees and drives them to Him who alone can help. Some people have a house full of faith, but miss the object of faith.

“What hast thou in the house?” This little pot of oil. No, you must not cast it away. The devil says, “It is nothing.” Truly, once you thought it was from the Lord. But by the discovering work of the Holy Spirit, you have learned that there is nothing you can do with it. Here we are so inclined not to count it, to set it aside as nothing. No, you must not do that. That woman brought it forth saying, “Not anything … save a pot of oil.”

Oil was a daily necessity. What do you have in your pot, you who are so deeply troubled about your sins? Perhaps a choice such as Ruth at the border—oh, that that God may be my God? Perhaps a time when you could see something of a way outside of yourself in Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for all His people? Or a time that you had so much of the love of God and said, “I will go from strength to strength”? But now you experience that all is too short. Now you experience how you go from complaint to complaint. Do you know why this woman sank deeper and deeper in her misery with what she possessed? It was because of the creditor who was standing at the door and demanding payment. It was because of the creditor who had the law on his side.

Reader, do you have such a little pot of oil? Is that your possession by the grace of God? A little token of God’s favor, a ray of light in the darkness of your existence? No, it is not enough to pay for all your guilt. Perhaps we may open this benefit a little further—Do I have eyes that have seen something of a Mediator? A time when I saw so much in the blood of Jesus? A time when I heard, “I have paid with the price of My blood”? A time when I had so much of the communion of the Lord that I did not see that mountain of guilt? And now, just this little pot. If it truly is a gift from above, then the Lord can cause it to flow so abundantly that that mountain of guilt can be paid for.

The prophet said, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors.” Here the Lord teaches us that we have no empty vessels of ourselves. That must come from outside. We have to be made empty time after time. This woman was to gather not a few and then she must close the door. If the Lord will cause the oil of His free, sovereign grace to flow, then there are times that He takes His children apart and says, “This is between Me and thee.” Then the door to the world must be closed.

I wonder how it was behind that closed door. The mind would say that this can never happen. Human nature would say, “I can’t ever start with this.” But this woman did not reason. By faith she poured out of her little pot and the oil flowed, filling one vessel after another until all the empty vessels were full.

Is this not so in the life of God’s dear people? When they may be emptied of all that is of self, then the Lord comes to fill that emptiness. Oh, then He fills it out of the fulness that is in Christ. When the oil of the Spirit flows, it is out of what He has merited for His people. Then it flows out of His suffering and dying. Then it flows out of His righteousness and holiness.

The empty vessels are filled. I trust that when the woman stood amongst all those vessels filled with oil that there was a brief moment when she did not hear or see the creditor. The guilt was covered. But a covered guilt is not a forgiven guilt. Yet what precious moments they are when the oil may flow and the vessels may be filled.

We read, “and the oil stayed.” Not that it was all gone; it stayed because there was no place for it anymore. Oh, what fulness there is with God! May that not give you a little courage? You who have no more than a missing. You miss God; you miss Christ; you walk over this earth bowed down because of your guilt. In heaven there is a fulness which can never be emptied. This God is rich in mercy and in grace.

Oh, that the Lord may give empty vessels so you may experience that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Where did this woman go then? We read, “Then she came and told the man of God.” Again she came upon her knees. Do you know why? With all the benefits, she still missed something. The creditor was still there. His demand was the same—”Pay what thou owest.” Do you know what she missed? A clear title that her debts were paid.

The prophet said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt.” She could sell all the oil and with the proceeds pay her debt. She then received a title, paid in full. Is this not so in the life of God’s children when they may receive this benefit? Then it is because of that offer that was made. When the debt of His church was paid to the last penny, God’s justice was satisfied. His wrath was quenched. And when that may be applied inwardly in the heart of a guilty, hell-worthy sinner, then there comes a time that their debt is paid. You know what they then sing? “Through Thee, through Thee alone, because of Thine eternal good pleasure.”

The prophet said, “And live thou and thy children of the rest.” Were there then still several vessels left? No, but now she may live from what remains. That is that little pot of oil and the knowledge that it flowed when the vessels were empty. With the knowledge that all her debts were paid, she could live the balance of her life upon her knees, with the inward knowledge that the Lord cares for His people.

The life of God’s people is a life in which they become less and less and the Lord becomes more and more, yes, everything. Then they may expect everything from heaven. What a blessed people they are! One day they will never be empty anymore, but will always flow over from communion with their Lord.

Rev. J. den Hoed is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Rock Valley, Iowa.

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen