Mothers of Faith

Today's Haftorah Reading:
2 Kings 4:1-37

Our Haftorah reading is similar to the story of Abraham's faith and G-d's faithfulness. However, it is interesting to note that today's stories both place the primary focus on women receiving a blessing from the L-rd.

In 2 Kings 4:1-7, the widow of a local prophet comes to Elisha because she is in debt and her creditors are threatening to take her children as slaves to settle the account. When he hears that the only thing the woman still has in her possession is a jar of oil, Elisha tells her to go out and borrow as many empty jars as she can (2 Kings 4:3). She and her sons are then instructed to close the door and start pouring the oil from her jar into the borrowed jars (2 Kings 4:4). Miraculously, the small jar fills every single borrowed jar before it runs out. Elisha tells her to sell the oil (a valuable commodity at the time) and pay her debt and what is left over will be enough to support her and her sons (2 Kings 4:7).

Here we see our first example of a mother's faith in G-d. As the widow of a prophet, she would have known that Elisha was not a wealthy individual. He could not offer her money to pay her debt and save her sons from slavery, but this was not what she was seeking. I think this mother approached Elisha because she believed that as a man of G-d, he could intercede on her behalf and ask G-d to perform a miracle. Because of her faith and the faith of Elisha, as well as His great mercy and love for His children, that is precisely what G-d did.

It is also interesting to note that Elisha did not provide the vehicle for the miracle. Instead, the woman was asked to borrow the jars and fill them with the only oil she had in the house. In essence, she was asked to step out in faith and trust G-d to help her.

In verses 8-37, we read another account of G-d's provision for a woman through the prophet Elisha. It seems there was a wealthy woman on Elisha's regular travel route who often provided food and shelter for Elisha when he traveled through her town. Elisha decides to ask the L-rd for a special blessing for the woman because of her kindness, and when he discovers that she has no son (and is presumably too old to conceive) he summons her and tells her that she will have a son within a year's time. The woman is indeed blessed with a son (2 Kings 4:17), but at some point he falls ill and dies. (While verse 18 says "when the child was grown" all other parts of the account indicate that the boy was still a minor. Perhaps "grown" in this context simply means that he was old enough to help his father in the field, as he was doing when he became ill.)

The mother immediately rushes off to Elisha and will not speak of what happened to anyone until she has seen the prophet. When she reaches the him, she is so overcome with grief that all she can do is fall down before him and grasp his feet. Elisha sends his servant ahead with his staff, with instructions to lay it on the boy (2 Kings 4:29), but it has no effect (2 Kings 4:31). It is not until Elisha himself comes to where the boy is, prays to the L-rd and lays himself bodily on the child that the child revives.

Here again we see a mother with strong faith in G-d and His mercy toward her. This woman reveres the L-rd and goes out of her way to minister to His prophet Elisha. When her son (like Isaac, a child miraculously granted by G-d) dies, she does not lose faith or curse G-d. Instead she rushes to His prophet to intercede for her. The L-rd uses another curious method of performing the miracle in this story. Elisha's first try (having his servant lay the prophet's staff on the child) doesn't work. Perhaps this is because G-d wants to demonstrate that there are no "magical" properties in the staff itself, but it is through His might alone that miracles happen. The bereaved mother acts on her faith by running to Elisha. Elisha prays to G-d and must then act on faith by laying on the child. It is only at that point that G-d revives the child and restores him to his mother (2 Kings 4:35-37).

So what can we learn through these stories? I think there are two key lessons we can take away from this portion. First, G-d hears the cries of a mother's heart. The first woman faced losing her children to slavery, the second faced losing her son to death. Both cried out to the L-rd through the prophet Elisha and G-d answered both their prayers. However, this brings us to the second point. G-d did not answer their prayers instantly. In both cases the women and even the prophet himself, had to step out in faith before receiving their answer from the L-rd. This involved the risk of embarrassment and disappointment, but the reward was far beyond the small demonstration of faith G-d required.

My prayer is that I would not let fear or insecurity keep me from stepping out in faith and expecting the L-rd to do great things.

Tomorrow: B'rit Chadashah: Luke 1:26-38; 24:36-53