"The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, 'Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.'" (2 Kings 4:1) It seems clear that Elisha personally knew her late husband; if he did not know him well, he at least knew enough about him to have been aware that he was faithful to the Lord. We don't know what the deceased prophet did for a living but he died owing money he had borrowed. This type of situation could potentially happen to anyone; for example, the primary (or only) breadwinner in the family could pass away before the home mortgage has been paid off, leaving their spouse and children unable to continue making the payments. In modern times we can use life insurance policies to offset some of this risk but as far as we know there were no such things as life insurance policies in the days of Elisha.
The widow's late husband must not have owed a mortgage loan since it's not the homestead that's in jeopardy. It could be that the debt is owed for the medical care he received during his last months or years on earth. Or he might have borrowed money to invest in his agricultural pursuits, expecting to be able to pay it back out of the next harvest, but he became ill and ended up passing away before he could plant and harvest those crops. The nature of the debt is not provided to us because it's not necessary for the story. All we need to know is that this woman and her children find themselves in dire circumstances and the young boys are about to be seized by the creditor in order to work off the debt. This was allowed under the Mosaic law. A person's child or children could be taken into service for a period of time limited to six years. A person could also voluntarily agree to serve their creditor for that period of time or even longer if they wanted to remain as that person's servant. (Exodus 21:2-11 goes into detail regarding such transactions, as does Leviticus 25:39-43.)
The late prophet's creditor has a right under the law to take the woman's two sons into his service for six years. The law is not in question here. The question that's being asked by the woman is whether Elisha can and will do something to help her. She appeals to him because he knows the character of her late husband was without reproach. She appeals to him because he knows she will find herself in even worse circumstances than she's already in if her sons are taken from her. Not only will she still be suffering the grief and poverty brought about by her husband's death, in addition she will suffer being separated from her sons. Elisha's heart goes out to her when he hears of her predicament and he swiftly takes action. He asks her what she still has so he can multiply it by the power of the Lord.
"Elisha replied to her, 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?' 'Your servant has nothing here at all,' she said, 'except a small jar of olive oil.'" (2 Kings 4:2) She has very little left to her name but as the saying goes, "Little is much if God is in it." She's willing to trust the Lord with what little she has left. She's going to do what the Lord says to do even though by human standards it sounds illogical. "Elisha said, 'Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each one is filled, put it to one side.'" (2 Kings 4:3-4)
Her jar of oil is "small". This has led many scholars to conclude that it's not a jar of cooking oil but a jar of anointing oil. That means it probably only holds an ounce or two when it's full. But Elisha tells her to go out and borrow as many empty jars as she can---to think big---and then to take those jars home, close the door, and begin pouring into them from her small jar of oil. She is to expect each jar to fill completely up, for he instructs her to set each one aside as it is filled.
The woman doesn't hesitate to do exactly what the Lord says. She doesn't understand the process by which the Lord will turn an ounce or two of oil into many jars full of oil but she knows nothing is impossible for Him. After speaking to Elisha in some public place, she goes home and enlists the help of her sons in asking for and bringing home as many jars as they can get. "She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another one.' But he replied, 'There is not a jar left.' Then the oil stopped flowing." (2 Kings 4:5-6) They've set up an assembly line in their house and she's been so busy pouring oil into one jar after another that she hasn't noticed they've run out of jars. When one of her sons brings her the last jar and keeps standing there, I think without looking up she says, "Get me the next jar." And he informs her they are all full.
At this news she goes out to find Elisha to ask him what to do next. She didn't even know the final step in the plan but she had the faith to get her to this point. Now she receives the reward of her faith. "She went and told the man of God, and he said, 'Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.'" (2 Kings 4:7) She and her sons are to sell as much as is needed to get them out of debt now and then they are to sell the rest, little by little, to live on. The Bible doesn't say whether this was enough for them to live on forever and I doubt that was the case. For one thing, the widow's home was probably not large enough to accommodate the number of jars necessary to hold that much oil. For another thing, I doubt it was the Lord's intention for the woman's sons to live perpetual lives of leisure without working to contribute to the household and to society. My opinion is that the Lord provided enough oil until the widow's sons were old enough to make a living. Then their duty would be to take care of their mother for the remainder of her life and to marry, have children of their own, and to raise those children to be productive and hardworking members of society. In order to do that they'd need to set a good example for their children to follow, which would include demonstrating a good work ethic.
We may have very little to work with at times but it doesn't matter how little we have if God is in it! If we are willing to trust Him with what we have, He is a rewarder of our faith. He can multiply what little we have into enough---or more than enough---to change our circumstances.
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