Verses 1-7
God’s care of the faithful in need 4:1-7
It was common in the ancient Near East for creditors to enslave the children of debtors who could not pay. The Mosaic Law also permitted this practice (Exodus 21:2-4, Leviticus 25:39). However, servitude in Israel was to end on the Year of Jubilee. God provided miraculously for the dire needs of this widow who had put God first, in contrast to the majority who did not do so in Israel (cf. Matthew 6:33). God’s miraculous multiplication of oil symbolized the adequacy of God’s Spirit to provide all that the widow needed. This seems clear from the significance of oil elsewhere in Scripture. It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (cf. Leviticus 8; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 16:13; Luke 11:13; et al.). [Note: See Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 6:47-50; and John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, pp. 21-22.]
"The vessels were the measure of the oil. In other words, divine power waited on faith-faith measured the active resources of God on the occasion." [Note: B., p. 17.]
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