And now the supreme moment came. The prophet had told her, after the vessels were all in, she should shut the door upon herself and upon her sons. Only her boys should be witnesses to the mighty deliverances of God. The locking of the door had no other object than to keep aloof every interruption from without. The action in question was not an ordinary, simply external, operation, but an act which was to be performed by the command of the man of God, and with the heart directed towards God, that is, in faith, so that it was to be completed, not in the noise and distraction of everyday life, but in quietness and solitude. And we may also well believe she first asked God’s blessing upon her undertaking, so far carried on in faith, for though her house was full of vessels, they were all as yet empty. The prayer ended, she took down her ointment jar--and Oh, it was such a very little pot! Holding it in her hand, she told her oldest son to bring one of the smallest jars, for how could the little vessel in her hand fill even the smallest of the borrowed utensils? As she tipped the little pot, the golden stream began to flow, and it kept on flowing until the vessel was filled to the brim, to the utter astonishment of herself and sons. This one filled, another was quickly brought. And as the oil flowed, the poor woman’s faith grew, and the sweat was now rolling down the faces of her sons as they brought up the empty vessels, and removed the full ones. Her face fairly shone as she filled the last vessel, and in her excitement cried out, “Bring me yet a vessel!” “Why, mother,” both the sons speaking at once, “there is not a vessel more!” So when the last was filled to the brim, “the oil stayed.” As she looked over the sea of vessels all filled to the brim with golden oil, out of the gladness of her heart she hastened to tell Elisha what had happened at her house. She had oil in her vessels and thanksgiving in her heart, and she must tell it out, and who was better prepared to share her joy than the prophet who had listened to the story of her distress. And he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt.” The religion that comes from heaven looks well after its creditors. The debt was paid, her sons were spared to her, and a surplus was left for them to live upon.