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related that they stand out from the rest of the narrative, and to these we draw the reader's
attention.
Elijah (I Kings 17:).
Elisha (II Kings 4:).
THE WIDOW'S CRUSE OF OIL.
THE WIDOW'S POT OF OIL.
"The barrel of meal shall not waste,
"Go borrow thee vessels . . . . . not a
neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the
few . . . . . Go, sell the oil, and pay the
day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the
debt, and live thou and thy children of the
earth" (14).
rest" (1-7).
THE DEAD CHILD.
THE DEAD CHILD.
Elijah "stretched himself upon the child
Elisha "stretched himself upon the child
three times . . . Thy son liveth" (17-23).
. . . Take up thy son" (8-36).
Throughout the O.T. oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, and in the earlier epistles of Paul
the word pneuma occurs with considerable frequency. For example, there are 36
occurrences in Romans, and 15 in Ephesians, but three only in II Timothy:
"God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind" (II Tim. 1: 7).
"That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which
dwelleth in us" (II Tim. 1: 14).
"The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen" (II Tim. 4: 22).
Here, therefore, is somewhat of a parallel with the widow's cruse of oil, or the
widow's pot of oil. In comparison with earlier epistles, there was little indeed to boast of.
Yet, just as, under the good hand of God, the small amount of oil was found to be ample,
so the keeping power of the Holy Ghost, even though all the gifts of the spirit be now
withdrawn, will prove all-sufficient. Timothy is no longer reminded of supernatural and
spiritual gifts; no longer is he to expect miraculous healing, or the gift of prophecy. He
is to see to it that in place of supernaturally endowed teachers he now appoints "faithful
men" "able to teach" and, even though told to stir up the gift which he had already
received, he is at the same time reminded that the spirit which he had received of God
was a spirit of power, love and a sound mind, and these are the gifts of the spirit that are
available to-day. Under grace, they are all-sufficient. The twofold miracle of the raising
of a child to life but emphasizes the great doctrine of the resurrection, without which
neither Timothy, nor his successors, could hope to prevail.
For the remainder, "Shemaiah, the man of God" commands Rehoboam that he must
not fight against Israel (II Chron. 11: 2), even though it be with the laudable intention of
bringing "the kingdom again to Rehoboam". It is not the will of God that we should
engage in strife with those who have left the teaching of the Apostle. There will be no
great revival or reunion of believers brought about by missions or other methods, but,
there must be maintained a witness for the truth (whether men will hear or whether they
will not), and a patient waiting for the day of the Lord's appearing (II Tim. 4: 1-4).
The last example, "Igdaliah, the man of God" (Jer. 35: 4) is associated with the test
and triumph of the sons of Rechab, whose obedience to the command of their father was
held up by the Lord as an example, to the shame of Israel. These Rechabites were not