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| 1 And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen. |
A certain woman – Josephus claims that this woman was the widow of Obadiah. R3430:6
Of the wives – Indicating that the school of the prophets was not a monastic order. R3430:3
Sons of the prophets – See comments on 2 Kings 2:3.
Unto Elisha – Her cry to the prophet of the Lord was a cry to the Lord himself. R3431:3
Fear the LORD – That is, he reverenced, worshipped and sought to serve the Lord. R3430:6
To be bondmen – According to the terms of the law her sons must serve the creditor until the debt was paid or until the Jubilee year. R2345:3
Represents how the whole world of Adam's family was sold under sin and obligated to pay the wages of sin, death. R3430:3
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| 2 And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil. |
Elisha – Elisha may also typify the Ancient Worthies (See 2 Kings 2:14). R5780:1, R4758:2; B265; R3417:2
What shall I do – Showing the Lord's willingness to help us to pay our honest debts; and our responsibility to pay them. R2345:5
What hast thou – During the Millennium the Lord will bless what people may have according to their faith. R5780:4
We should look to see what we have in our possession. R5419:3, R5780:4
God can use our humblest talent to his praise. R5419:2
Hath not any thing – The woman did not appeal for divine aid until she was in extremities, and neither should we. R3431:3
A pot of oil – God is pleased to bless the use of things which we have rather than to send us other things. R2345:5
Olive oil was used for light, cooking, and as butter in those days; a household necessity and an article of ready sale. R3431:2
The Lord used what she had on hand. R5419:4
Olive oil is used in the Scriptures as a symbol of the holy Spirit. R3431:4
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| 3 And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few; |
Even empty vessels – It is for us to see that we are emptied vessels; empty that he may fill us with his Spirit. R3431:5
Borrow not a few – Her faith was tested and developed by the prophet's requirement that she and her sons should cooperate in the borrowing of vessels. R3431:4, R2345:5
The fact that she was able to borrow from her neighbors implies a good reputation. R3431:2
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| 4 and go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels, and set aside what is full. |
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| 5 And she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons: they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. |
She poured out – Reminding us that during the Millennial age his Spirit shall be poured upon all flesh. (Joel 2:28) R3431:4, R558:4
A beautiful picture of restitution blessings. R4758:5, R2345:5
Thus, as we acknowledge divine mercies and render thanks, the blessing is only increased. F687
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| 6 And it came to pass when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. |
The vessels were full – Illustrating the blessed rewards of faith that the Lord will grant during the Millennium. R5780:4
Representing how the antitypical Elisha will help the poor to secure the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness in the Millennium. B266
Every vessel fitted for its reception shall be filled with the Spirit to its full. R3431:4, R558:4
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| 7 And she came and told the man of God; and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons on the rest. |
Pay thy debt – Justice was not to be violated. R5780:4, R2345:5
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| 8 And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a wealthy woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. |
A great woman – Evidently widely known as a good and wise woman, and probably possessed of a large estate. R3431:3, R2345:6
The kind of greatness, too, which recognizes goodness and reverences the Lord and those who are his. R2345:6
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| 9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually. |
Unto her husband – Manifesting a commendable wifely deference to his wishes. R2346:1
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| 10 Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither. |
A little chamber – Every home, if possible, should have such a guest chamber for the Lord's servants. R2346:1, R3432:1
Present day arrangements for public hotels are calculated to hinder the development of the spirit of hospitality. R3432:1
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| 11 And it came to pass on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber, and lay there. |
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| 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him. |
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| 13 And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she said, I dwell among mine own people. |
What is to be done – Those who accept the favors of others and lack the desire to do as much in return are lacking the Lord's spirit. R2346:2
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| 14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi said, Verily, she has no son, and her husband is old. |
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| 15 And he said, Call her; and he called her; and she stood in the doorway. |
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| 16 And he said, At this appointed time, when thy term is come, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid. |
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| 17 And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that appointed time in the next year as Elisha had said to her. |
The woman conceived – The miraculous interposition of divine power quickening the dormant and inoperative forces. R560:6*
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| 18 And the child grew, and it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. |
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| 19 And he said to his father, My head, my head! And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother. |
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| 20 And he carried him, and brought him to his mother; and he sat on her knees till noon, and died. |
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| 21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. |
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| 22 And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I will run to the man of God, and come again. |
To the man of God – Her faith in the prophet corresponds very well to our faith in the Lord Jesus. R3432:4
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| 23 And he said, Why wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, It is well. |
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| 24 Then she saddled the ass, and said to her servant, Drive and go forward; slack not the riding for me, except I bid thee. |
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| 25 And she went and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel. And it came to pass when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, there is the Shunammite: |
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| 26 run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she said, It is well. |
It is well – Avoiding the questions of Elisha's servant. R3432:3
An answer of faith having full confidence in the power of God, through the prophet, to awaken her son from the dead. R2346:2
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| 27 And she came to the man of God to the mountain, and caught him by the feet; and Gehazi drew near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her, and Jehovah has hidden it from me, and has not told me. |
Hid it from me – It was not by any power that the prophet himself possessed that he had any special knowledge, but by revelations from the Lord. R2349:6
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| 28 And she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? |
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| 29 And he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again; and lay my staff upon the face of the lad. |
Take my staff – Much after the same style that the Apostle Paul sent napkins and handkerchiefs to the sick. R3432:3
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| 30 And the mother of the lad said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And he rose up and followed her. |
I will not leave thee – Possibly realizing that the servant was not such a man as his master. R3432:3
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| 31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor sign of attention. And he returned to meet him, and told him saying, The lad is not awaked. |
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| 32 And when Elisha came into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. |
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| 33 And he went in and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Jehovah. |
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| 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and bent over him; and the flesh of the child grew warm. |
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| 35 And he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and bent over him. And the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes. |
Then he returned – The Lord is pleased to exercise his power, either slowly or quickly, according to circumstances and conditions. R2346:5
Walked ... to and fro – Apparently the prophet was perplexed by this case. R2346:4
Child opened his eyes – This restoration of life was a foreshadowing of the great Times of Restitution. HG336:1
Picturing coming restitution work of the Millennium, when all the sleeping dead will be awakened. R5781:2; B266; R4758:5
Was merely awakened, not "resurrected," not "raised to life again." F703, F704; R2346:5
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| 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her; and she came to him. And he said, Take up thy son. |
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| 37 And she came and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out. |
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| 38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. |
There was a dearth – Representing a lack of spiritual food. B266
Sons of the prophets – Representing theologians. B266; R558:4.
See comments on 2 Kings 2:3.
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| 39 Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild colocynths, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they did not know them. |
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| 40 And they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, Man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat it2. |
Death in the pot – Deadly doctrines, error and superstition, combined with Satan's great falsehood. R4758:4, R558:4
This will be effectually offset by the blessings of the Lord through his glorified Kingdom. R4758:4
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| 41 And he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. |
That they may eat – May represent a healing of the food of theologians by the putting of an antidote into their poisonous mess. R558:4
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| 42 And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat. |
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| 43 And his attendant said, How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare. |
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| 44 And he set it before them, and they ate and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah. |
And they did eat – Representing that spiritual food shall be made wholesome and plentiful. B266; R558:4
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