Title: Faith to Receive Abundant Grace
Elisha did not only perform miracles in relation to water. Just as Jesus performed the power of raising the dead, he also did wonderful things related to life. A noble woman living in a place called Shunem, who had no sons, and her husband realized that he was old, called her and prophesied that he would have a son in a year (2 Kings 4:16). He even brought them back to life (2 Kings 4:17-35). Elisha also kept the disciples safe by detoxifying the soup when the disciples were in danger of dying from eating poisoned soup (2 Kings 4:38-41). Elisha took twenty barley loaves and vegetables in a sack and gave them to a hundred people, depending on the word of God, so that they had leftovers (2 Kings 4:42-44). Elisha also cured leprosy from Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria (2 Kings 5:1-14). On the other hand, his servant Gehazi, who was blinded by riches, tried to deceive him, and instead, he developed leprosy, making him look like snow (2 Kings 5:20-27).
It is not recorded how long the woman and her two sons prospered after selling the oil. But in this story we have an idea. That is, if they had borrowed more vessels, they would have had more money and lived longer. Also, if all the vessels had been borrowed from all the inhabitants, it would have been possible for all the inhabitants to enjoy the abundance together. I think that the woman's family's limited efforts only limited the grace that comes from God.
This history also makes us rethink what we can have through the story of today's text. Elisha did not limit the number of times the king had to strike. Then, the king should have continued to beat until Elisha told him to stop hitting according to God's will. When he says, “The king had to strike five or six times,” Elisha was actually trying to tell the king that once the king had struck five or six times, he could stop. But the king beat him three times as he pleased, and then stopped. He may not have been very pleased with Elisha's request for strange, unknown behavior. You may have wondered what good would be the benefit of doing so. You may have been annoyed by repeated actions. I don't know if I was conceited, thinking that hitting three or three times would be enough. In any case, they lacked the enthusiasm to simply accept and carry out the words of Elisha, a man of God, as God's commands. The result was not only the limited victories of the time, but it also led to the later destruction of Israel.
All the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel were evil kings before God. Still, there were occasional great kings in the southern kingdom of Judah. But there were no good kings in the Northern Kingdom. Nevertheless, God sent outstanding prophets to the land. Elijah was also a great prophet, but his disciple and successor, Elisha, was a more powerful prophet. He must have been the man of God who performed the most miracles since Moses. But despite his presence, Israel eventually went down the road to destruction. It was a missed opportunity to turn to God. This is because the king and the people of Israel were both spiritually proud and indolent before God. Even though God sent such a powerful prophet to give them a chance to receive grace, Israel wasted this opportunity.