This session's story is a simple but moving account of the sad situation of a widow and her two sons and of how Elisha acts to rescue her from her distress. Notice that it is told almost exclusively in dialogue---which is true of many biblical narratives. Such dialogue helps us sense the character of the persons involved, their motives and feelings, and the interactions among them. Can you detect the desperation of this widow, the sympathy of Elisha, his search for a solution, her faith as she does precisely what the prophet has instructed, and her wonder and relief as the unending stream of oil solves her urgent problems? Read the story with an open ear for such nuances in this dialogue, and you'll be able to tell it to the children in a way that makes it come alive for them.

Some details in this story will seem odd to the children and will need to be explained. A poor widow in those days was someone in desperate straits. Men earned money, but women did not. So someone whose husband had died was helpless unless her birth family or her husband's family was willing and able to care for her. This particular widow's husband had been one of the prophets, so she and her husband had probably left both of their families---perhaps incurring their anger---in order to serve God. Still, she had two sons, and they could be her support in the future if she could only live through the tough years until they were old enough to begin working.

An added problem is that her husband left her in debt to some money lender. And since she has no money to pay this debt, he is threatening to sell her sons as slaves. That was a widespread custom in those days, permitted by the law of Moses, with the important provision that in the seventh year of such slavery a person would go free (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12). But that provision would be no immediate help for this woman.

The miracle by which Elisha frees this widow from her dilemma involves the multiplying of her small amount of olive oil---which seems to have been her one precious possession. Olive oil was essential for life in that climate and time. People used it to prepare food, to light their lamps, and even to keep their skin soft and supple. It was so expensive, however, that a large number of jars filled with olive oil was worth enough to pay the widow's debt and support the family until the boys were old enough to go to work. It's as though she had only one five-dollar bill left at home, and the prophet multiplied that until she had over a hundred thousand dollars.

Notice one other remarkable thing in this story. Elisha tells the woman to "go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons" before filling the jars with oil. And that's what she does. Evidently this was not meant to be a public miracle. It was a private, quiet act, done solely to help out this poor widow and her sons. Elisha seemed to have been avoiding any attention or praise that might have come to him for this deed.