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 (Exod. 21:2-4, Lev. 25:39). However servitude in Israel was to end on the Year of Jubilee. God provided miraculously for the dire needs of this family that had put God first in contrast to the majority who did not do so in Israel (cf. Matt. 6:33). God's miraculous multiplication of oil symbolized the adequacy of God's Spirit to provide all the widow needed. This seems clear from the significance of oil elsewhere in Scripture. It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lev. 8; 1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13; Luke 11:13; et al.).²⁴