An Easy Day

2 Kings 4:38-44

³⁸ 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.”

³⁹ 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.

⁴⁰ 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.

⁴¹ 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.

⁴² A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men that they may eat.”

⁴³ 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.’ ”

⁴⁴ So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

We’re all pretty familiar with the miracle stories in the Gospels as Jesus repeatedly displays His sovereign power over sickness, earthly elements, and the demonic. What we find surprising sometimes is that those same types of miracles occurred in the Old Testament at the hand so the prophets long before Jesus was born. Today, we read of two such circumstances in the life of Elisha, both involving feeding the students of the faith that he worked with during his ministry.

Most of Elisha’s ministry played out during a time of great famine in the land of Israel. There was an on-going drought that of course brought this agrarian culture to its knees. Food was scarce. In the midst of this time, two events take place that prove once again that God is much bigger than a drought and can be counted on to care for those who trust Him. First, we have an incident where the prophets cook up a pot of stew made from vegetables (weeds?) gathered from the surrounding area. One man mistakenly picks something that is poisonous and cuts it into the food. This is not a malicious act on his part, merely ignorance. After all have begun eating, the mistake is realized and everyone fears for their lives. Elisha throws a handful of flour thrown into the pot and a miraculous healing takes place. The sickness that was started by the stew is cured and even the pot of stew is salvaged and can be eaten. Second, we see Elisha turn 20 small dinner rolls into enough food to feed 100 people. (“Firstfruits” in verse 42 refers to an offering that was brought to Elisha in accordance with the Mosaic law and was meant as a tithe to the Lord. Apparently, it is okay with God that this be used to feed the people and display His power over their hunger.) This story immediately reminds us of Jesus and the feeding of the 5,000. In both instances, there were leftovers!

I must confess, my human logic says to God, “If you can multiply 20 dinner rolls, why don’t You just make it rain and relieve the people of this drought.” But then God’s attempt to get the attention of the people (and their leaders) goes for naught. The bigger problem still remains – the nation is bowing down to false idols and that must stop. God wants to see their hearts turned toward Him, not some god of their own making who certainly cannot make it rain. As always, my way is never the better way. So instead God provides for those who look to Him and trust Him. These prophets, while probably young, were committed to following the true God despite what was happening around them. The old, wiser Elisha brings a miracle to show them once again that God does love them and knows how to care for them. If all God had to do that day was multiply a few loaves of bread, it was an easy day.

Our viewpoint is so very limited. While God sees all of time unfolded out before Him, we see only the next few minutes ahead of us. His long-view takes into consideration things we could never even dream of and works them out perfectly. Because our view is so limited we simply must trust that God has it all figured out and will work everything out with that long view in mind. Trusting Him can be tough sometimes. Just imagine what the prophets were feeling when they realized they had consumed poisoned stew! But in calm trust in the Lord, Elisha acts as God instructs and all is well. Each day, we too must trust that God will act and all will be well.