What happensPermalink
Elisha performs a series of miracles demonstrating God’s power. A widow of one of the prophets faces crushing debt, but at Elisha’s instruction her small jar of oil fills every vessel she gathers until her debts are paid. A wealthy woman who had shown Elisha hospitality miraculously bears a son; when the boy later dies, Elisha restores him to life. During a famine he neutralizes poisonous stew for the prophets, and he multiplies twenty loaves of barley and fresh grain so that a hundred men eat and have food left over.
Why it mattersPermalink
These miracles establish Elisha as the true successor to Elijah and show that God’s power extends over every aspect of life. The Lord provides for the poor, grants children to the barren, restores the dead, and sustains His people in famine. In a nation led by unfaithful kings, God continues to care for those who trust Him.
Key versePermalink
“Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’”