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Chapter 4 tells of the humility of Elisha. One might expect to find in this chapter, honors being bestowed upon Elisha as his prayers had saved the lives of 3 kings and many men and won the war against Moab, but as we will see, Elisha is forgotten. This was all right with Elisha for God has manifested him and that was sufficient for Elisha. We see something of that magnification in this chapter. Remember Elisha's request from Elijah for "twice the power" of Elijah. We see that power being put to use here. Recorded here are 5 miraculous events.
The first miracle is similar to the one Elijah did to the widows meal and oil that never ran out for 3 years. Here, we have a widow whose husband had died and left her with a great debt which she was unable to pay. The husband had been a student at one of the prophet schools that Elijah had started. Her creditors were going to take her two sons if she didn't pay and she couldn't pay for all she had was a jar of olive oil. Notice how Elisha solves her problem. He instructs her to borrow all the pots and pans she could find. Then he told her to take the jar of oil and pour the oil into the pots and pans. One by one she filled the pots and pans until there were none left empty. Then Elisha told her to go sell the oil and pay off her creditors and she did this and still had money left over for her and her sons.
The second miracle had to do with the conception of a child. In his travels, Elijah often stayed at people's homes. When he was in Shu-nem, he always stayed at the home of a prominent woman of the city. She had made a place for him up on the roof and furnished it with a bed, chair, table and lamp and always complete with dinner. On one occasion, Elisha tried to repay her for her kindness. In this scene we see something of the customs of the day in that Elisha does not talk directly to his hostess but speaks through his servant Ge-hi-zi. He inquires whether there was anything he could do you her by using his influence with the King or some high official. She responded that she had no need in that respect, but she would like to have a son but her husband was to old. She was a woman of great wealth but had no son to leave it to. If Elisha could intercede for her with the Lord and she could conceive and bare a son, her life would be complete. Notice when the servant tells Elisha of her request, he sent immediately for her. Again we see something of the customs of the day, she very humbly and very modestly stood at the door as Elisha assured her that within a year she would have a son. She thought that he was kidding her but time would prove him right, for within that year, she bore a son.
The third miracle had to do with the death of that very son. One day when the boy grew older, he went into the harvest field to see his father and while he was there it appears that he suffered from a heat stroke, at least he became very ill and had to be taken home to his mother. Shortly after, he died. His mother was sad and confused. Elisha had promised her a son to whom she could leave her inheritance but now he was dead. She saddled a donkey and with a servant she headed for Mt. Carmel, a distance of 25 miles. As she approached Mt. Carmel, Elisha saw her coming and sent his servant to meet her and to ask if all was well.
This brings us to two things that are not easy to understand. One, the customs of the day and two, the ways of the Lord. Why did she say in answer to his question, all is well? It would seem that this was the custom of the day regardless of how many problems one might have. Why did she make assumptions about Elisha concerning his truthfulness and the ability of his staff to bring back life to her boy? This too was the custom of the day and she assumed that it was the way of the Lord. Why didn't Elisha, or did he, know that his staff would not bring back life to the boy? This to may very well be that Elisha considered it the "Lord's way".
Matthew Henry, in his commentary, frankly admits he did not know what to make of all this, but he does suggest that while Elisha's power was great, it did not equal that of Moses. God accomplished much thru Moses and his staff and he suggests that Elisha knew this and assumed power that he did not have. God's gifts should not be taken for granted nor should they be compared to the gifts of others. But Elisha was able to bring back the boy to life when he finally did it God's way.
Now, another interesting question, why did the boy sneeze when he came back to life and why did he sneeze 7 times? The number 7 stands for completeness. Tradition has it that when God created man from the dust of the earth, and breathed unto him the breath of life, he sneezed. It was symbolic of breath and became a symbol of God's blessing, thus came the custom of saying, "Bless you", when someone sneezes. The boy sneezed, which indicated the God had breathed back the breath of life into him. Seven times indicates "complete life, life abundant".
The fourth miracle deals with food poisoning. Elisha was in Gilgal, near the Jordan River. He was teaching the "sons of the prophets". He sent his servant, Ge-ha-zi out to make a stew for them to eat. The servant gathered some wild gourds that were poisonous by mistake. When the sons of the prophets ate it they became ill and realized that they had been poisoned. Elisha took some meal and threw it into the stew and it was no longer poisonous also it cured their illness.
The fifth miracle was the feeding of the 100, similar to the feeding of the 5000 by our Lord. From a sack of grain and 20 loaves of bread, Elisha fed 100 men with some left over. All of this was done just as the Lord had said.
There are three periods of Miracles in the Bible. 1. The time of Moses, 1,200 BC. 2. The time of Elijah and Elisha, 800 BC. 3. The time of Christ, the first century AD.
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