Death in the Pot of Pottage

II Kings 4:38-41
And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

Elisha came again to Gilgal and there was a dearth in the land. There is dearth in our land too today; this dearth is spiritual dearth; people are living in constant fear arising due to many factors in the current economy, nations rising against nations, constant battle for power and prosperity and families shattered due to disobedience of children to parents and due to lack of loyalty between a husband and wife and the list goes on and on. This is due to shutting God from operating in our lives and letting the flesh rule. The only answer to this spiritual dearth is JESUS and we should let Him in, while letting out the enemy. Romans 10:23 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The sons of the prophets were sitting before Elisha. These people were men of God gathered to fellowship and share God’s love among each other. It appears that these sons of prophets were looking up to Elisha for their spiritual feed and just like Christ never let the hungry crowd go without food both spiritual and physical; Elisha seems to be doing the same. Elisha said unto his servant, “Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.” Here they were about to enjoy a wonderful stew together. See the whole land was experiencing dearth but the men of God gathered here were taken care of by Elisha. One went out to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered wild gourds and came and shred them into the pottage. They knew not what they were putting in the pottage and never used these ingredients perhaps. They found them for God helped them find this wild food just like the raven that fed Elijah with bread and meat when there was famine. Even during times of dearth and spiritual devastation, God provides spiritual food for His children. This spiritual food may be granted to us not by the men of God we are familiar with but from sources unknown to us but still that food will be just sufficient to our souls. You may be experiencing a tempest in your life and you probably are in a place all alone but God will grant you the needed comfort from sources He arranged just for you. Enjoy His peace and comfort for that alone has the potential to sustain you.

And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. What was supposed to be their food had death in it. They realized that quickly and cried out to the man of God. And he said, “Bring some meal”. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. Elisha instantly knew what should be done so that the stew becomes edible. The same way corrective action should be taken against an incorrect teaching. We should boldly stand for the truth as a true Body of Christ. Elisha asked for some meal to be brought and he cast it into the pot that they all may eat. With God given wisdom Elisha acted and God will similarly grant us wisdom to take the right steps when we realize that there is death and not life in a person, or group of people or a church; God can use each one of us to transform a person or a group of people living by flesh and not by the Spirit of God; God can use us to turn a church from going apostate; we should put in the right meal to bring life; this meal is the Word of God that is simply the truth! The bitter waters at Marah were turned into sweet water by adding a tree and God used Moses to do this miracle (Exodus 15:23-25). Just as God used Elisha and Moses to bring life and turn bitter waters into sweet waters respectively, He can use you and me too!

Tomorrow: The Feeding of a Hundred