Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew

2 Kings 4:38-44

 

August 28, 2021

 And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”   One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were.   And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.   He said, “Then bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Pour some out for the men, that they may eat.” And there was no harm in the pot.

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.”   But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So, he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’”   So, he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

 

Be careful what you put into the pot of your life, the man saw something and put it into the pot, it looks good, but the source of it was very harmful.  I was taught a lesson with an illustration when I was just beginning my new life in Christ.  A missionary name Pastor Joe took me out of the bright light into a very dim-lit room full of people eating, but as I enter that room, I did not see anyone, just the man a few feet in front of us, leading us to a table.  But after a while, it became clear the room was full of people eating.  

 

Pastor Joe ask me young man did you see these people when you enter the room, and I say no I could not see anything.  And then he said how sin is the longer you stay in the darkness the more you accept and allow it into your life.

 

Could that be what has happened to the United States, the Church, and the moral fiber of our nation?  We put a lot of bad evil things in the pot, the pot is our life and the only one that can fix our problem is Jesus.

 

As with the bread that Elisha told the servant to feed a hundred men, it was only twenty loaves.  But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So, he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’”   So, he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

The lesson is the servant was looking at what he saw, and Elisha knew that any amount when God tells us to do so will have more than enough.  Have you examined what you are putting into the pot, if not maybe you are part of the problem?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice