When Death Surrounds, Where Do You Turn? | 2Kings 3-4
As parents are making their way back from checking their kids in, if you want to find your way to a seat and take out your copy of God’s Word. Here at Piqua Baptist, we work our way through books of the Bible a little bit at a time, and we’re currently in the middle of a series through the book of Kings. We are in the second part — 2 Kings chapters 3 and 4 this morning. If you don’t have a Bible, there is a black one under a chair nearby, and you’ll find 2 Kings chapters 3 and 4 on pages 308, 309, and 310.
Let me go ahead and pray.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall Your word go forth, and it will not return void or empty, but it will accomplish that which You purpose; it will succeed in that for which You sent it. And so, Lord, we ask now, humbly, that as You send forth Your word in the next few moments, it would find good soil in all of our hearts, and it would take root, and it would bear fruit, that Christ would be exalted. Without Him we can do nothing. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Amen.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
You see, when everything is said and done, what will they say of you? Will it be said that you cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard your voice? Will it be said that you cast your burden upon the Lord, and He sustained you? Can I ask: when you are weary and in need of rest, when you are anxious and in need of peace, when you are afraid and in need of comfort, when a sense of injustice wells up in your chest — where do you turn? To the Lord? Or is the Lord more like the airbags in your car — something you think rarely about until there’s an accident?
Here’s the central claim I’ll be making this morning from 2 Kings 3 and 4 — and I’ll slightly adjust what shows up on the screen here: when death surrounds, turn first and fast to the man of God, whose word and work will bring you life.When death surrounds, turn first and fast to the man of God whose word and work will bring you life.
2 Kings chapters 3 and 4 — we take up where Pastor Matt left off last Lord’s Day. And I think I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you to join me in giving thanks to our God for blessing our church with such a good biblical expositor of God’s Word, a good Bible teacher, and an irrepressibly encouraging pastor. The man is my favorite preacher and my dearest friend, and I’m thankful that I get to serve alongside him every Sunday.
In two chapters, we are given five examples of the onslaught of death that is brought about by sin in this world. We are introduced to five different responses to that onslaught of death. One example is a negative one, which we’ll consider first. The other four are positive ones. Three headings will guide our time together:
- When crisis comes, turn to the Lord.
- When death invades, trust in the Lord.
- When death surrounds, look to the Lord.
You can see the outline on the screen. Let’s get to work.
I. When Crisis Comes, Turn to the Lord (2 Kings 3)
Chapter 3. This is the word of the Lord.
In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.
Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?” And he said, “I will go. I am as you are; my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” Then he said, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”
So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
Let me give you some background. The kingdom of Israel has been split into two kingdoms — one kingdom in the north, with their own king, called Israel, and one kingdom in the south, with their own king, called Judah. Israel in the north has been plagued by wicked kings, and Ahab was about as wicked as you get. He and his wife worshiped a false god called Baal, and they led the people of Israel to do the same. God mercifully warned Ahab of his sin, which he rejected, and he fell under God’s just judgment. And now he and his wife are dead.
Upon the death of Ahab, his son takes over. Pastor Matt read the passage last week. He continued in his father’s idolatry, and he fell through the lattice in his upper chamber, and he died. So his brother takes over in Israel — a fellow named Jehoram. Although we read that Jehoram didn’t continue in the worship of Baal, he did continue in false worship to other false gods, and he did lead God’s people away from the Lord.
Now, at the time, the kingdom of Moab was under Israelite dominion. So when the king of Moab hears that Ahab is dead, he decides, “I’m going to stop giving what is demanded of me” — which is a couple hundred thousand head of sheep. That would have been a serious blow to the treasury in Israel. And so Jehoram decides he will go to war against Moab. He calls King Jehoshaphat, his cousin to the south, and asks him, “Join me and get my sheep back.”
Jehoshaphat is a good king. Jehoshaphat is a godly king. Kind of dumb, but he’s good. Jehoshaphat is simply down for whatever. He tells Jehoram what he told his father: “I’m in. Whatever is mine is yours. I’ll go with you.” He commits himself, he commits his army, he commits to whatever the king of Israel wants. He just jumps right in. That’s where we get the phrase “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat.” I made that up.
Jehoram comes up with a plan and decides he’s going to flank the Moabites. They’re going to take this long, circuitous route through Edom, and they’ll pick up the king of Edom, who is a vassal of Judah at the time, and they’ll go against the Moabites three against one. Guaranteed win. But Jehoram’s plan turns out to be a disaster. They go for seven days, and they run out of water. None of the animals, none of the army, has anything to drink — which is a really, really bad thing.
And Jehoram blames God. Notice he says, “Well, the Lord brought us together, and now He’s going to deliver us into the hand of the Moabites.” Because what army is going to rush into battle dehydrated? We’re all going to die, and it’s all God’s fault. But notice: this was Jehoram’s idea. He didn’t seek the Lord. He didn’t pray. And he finds himself in crisis and blames God.
Isn’t that just like us? We want what we want. We make decisions to get what we want without prayer, without searching out Scripture, without seeking counsel from an elder or pastor. We find ourselves in a bind, and we blame God for not being a good provider or a good protector. It seems there’s a little Jehoram in all of us.
Well — Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat. He’s going to have to jump in again. He does now what he did back with Ahab some years ago, and says, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord that we can go and ask what God would have us do?” It’s a little late to ask now, but it’s still a good question. And one of the king’s servants comes and says, “Well, there’s Elisha.” And Jehoshaphat is exactly right in verse 12 when he says, “The word of Yahweh is with him.”
And this is a major theme throughout the book of Kings: God will lead His people by His word, and His word will come through the man sent from God, the prophet of God. This is how God leads His people — by His word, through the man that He sent.
Let’s pick up reading at verse 13.
And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” And Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. But now bring me a musician.”
And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or see rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”
The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
Elisha is fearless before Jehoram, the son of Ahab. He’s like, “Why are you coming to me? Why don’t you go to the prophets of Baal? Oh, wait — did something happen to those guys?” He says, “I wouldn’t even look at you if it weren’t for Jehoshaphat. He’s a good king. He’s dumb, but he’s good.” And the king of Israel says, in effect, “No — it’s the Lord who called us together. It’s God’s fault.”
The Lord is gracious. He speaks a favorable word to these three kings. The water will come at the word of the prophet of the Lord. We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Yahweh will send water — a flash flood, probably, of some sort — and He promises that He will deliver the Moabites into their hands.
When you read the rest of the chapter, you see that the Moabites see the sun reflecting off the water, which looks to them like blood — maybe silt from the ground turned it red or something. They see red, and they think these three kings have probably turned on themselves and started killing one another. So they muster their army and rush in to plunder, only to find the three armies ready. It is a decisive victory that the Lord gives to Israel and Judah.
And when the king of Moab sees that things have turned all the way against him, he does what any wicked pagan would do: he takes his son and murders him on an altar to his demon god, hoping that his demon god will maybe wake up and help him win the battle — which, of course, he doesn’t, because demon gods don’t wake up, because they’re nothing. They don’t speak. They don’t help. They do nothing but steal, kill, and destroy. And the battle is over.
Israel and Judah were in a crisis. Going into battle dehydrated meant certain loss. They rushed into battle without seeking the Lord’s wisdom, without seeking the Lord’s guidance. They only turned to Him as a last resort. And this text is a bit of a mirror upon our own hearts, to show us that there’s a little Jehoram in all of us — that we want what we want, and we rush in to get it without turning to the Lord. A text like this warns us not to be like Jehoram.
But when the next crisis comes to your life, turn to the Lord first. Turn to the Lord fast. When you have big decisions to make in your life, turn to the Lord first. Turn to the Lord fast. When you’re uncertain of God’s direction for your life, the Lord has provided you pastors — men and women in the Lord who can pray with you, pastors who will lead you and guide you, help you see what God’s will is for your life. Turn to the Lord in the big things. Turn to the Lord in the small things.
II. When Death Invades, Trust the Lord (2 Kings 4:1–37)
Now the author continues along this theme of death invading, and people’s response to the encounter of death invading — with two positive examples of the right way to respond to the onslaught of death brought about by sin. These two examples did right. They trusted the Lord. And when we read this next section in chapter 4, we are not going to be scandalized by these two examples — but I assure you the original readers would have been. The two examples we’re about to read of godliness and faith are women.
The Widow and the Oil (vv. 1–7)
Chapter 4, verse 1. When death invades, trust the Lord.
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured, they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
It’s difficult to exaggerate the plight, the dire situation, of a widow in those days. Death broke into her life like a home invasion. Her husband was dead, and she was left with two young boys and a large debt. The creditor comes knocking, threatening to take her sons and make them slaves until the debt is paid. This is a very dire situation. What is she to do?
Well, the unnamed widow here does the right thing: she turned to Elisha, the man of God — first and fast. Elisha asked, “What do you have? What can be sold that you might pay off your debt?” And she responds, “I have practically nothing — a single jar of oil to my name.” And so the man of God tells her to gather up as many containers as she can borrow from her neighbors, fill her house, and begin to pour what she has into those containers until all of them are full.
Can you imagine what this might have sounded like to her? That’s your solution? To fill my house with empty jars? Isn’t that what my whole life is like? Isn’t it just a constant reminder of emptiness, of what I don’t have? But she has to trust the word of the Lord from the prophet of the Lord.
Now, back in 1 Kings 17 — if you’ve been with us in the series, you might remember — Yahweh provided for a different widow in a similar way during the ministry of Elijah. You remember? At the word of the prophet, the oil didn’t run out, and the widow was saved, her and her son. Now, I don’t know if this widow knew that story. I suspect she did. And she acts on faith at the word of the prophet. She expects that what God did in the past for others, He will do in the present for her.
Her house is full of empty jars — and these are probably large containers, big pots. And she’s going to empty her pot into this empty pot, which is a practice in futility: just taking one jar of oil and pouring it into another jar. And now you have the same amount of oil. I can imagine mom looking at her boys, maybe making a glance toward heaven and just saying, “Okay, Lord.” Can you imagine her face after she fills that first jar? “Boys, come here. Bring me another one. There’s more.” And then she pours into the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one. And now her house is full of full jars of oil. She’ll keep what she needs, and she’ll sell the rest to pay off her debt.
What a God we serve — that He would care for the lowest and the least, the father to the fatherless, the provider to the widow. This is our God. Turn to Him first and fast. Trust in His word. He keeps His promises. Whatever you need in your life, turn to your heavenly Father who hears you. And what God tells you to do with what little you do have, be obedient and do it. Do it. Act in faith. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
The Shunammite Woman (vv. 8–37)
The next example we see given to us in 2 Kings 4 is that of another woman — not a poor woman without a husband, but a wealthy woman without a son. Again we see the Lord’s kindness on display. Verse 8.
One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”
One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?'” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.
This woman, also unnamed, is a woman of means. She urges the prophet to come to her for hospitality. She feeds him, and then she recognizes that he’s a holy man, and she wants to honor him, and she asks her husband to build a room at their house for this prophet to come and rest. And the design of this room isn’t accidental. You may have wondered why all the details about this and that in the room — the details, the design, and the articles in that room are drawn exactly from the details, design, and articles in the Holy Place in the temple. She’s building a place for the man of God to commune with his God, to bring a revelation of who God is to the people of God. She’s using the funds God has provided to her to serve the kingdom and benefit others.
Elisha is thankful for this, and he asks how he might repay her kindness, but she’s too modest. She says, “I have all that I need. I live among my own people.” And so Elisha asks his servant, Gehazi, for suggestions, and Gehazi is the one who comes up with the idea: “Well, she doesn’t have a son. Her husband is old.” Now, Elisha must have known at that point what the Lord loves to do for the childless. He summons her. And notice the author says she stands at the door — that’s important. And the prophet says, “About this time next year, you shall embrace a son.”
Do you feel the pain in her reply? “No, my lord. Don’t lie to me.” How long do you think this woman had prayed? How long had she waited for the Lord to fill her womb? How many nights do you think she lay awake in silence, longing to hear the coos and the cries of a baby, the pitter-patter of toddlers’ feet on her floor? But the Lord knew. The Lord heard before she even asked. Sisters, take heart. Those of you who have prayed long and hard for the Lord to give you a baby: know this — your heavenly Father hears your prayers. He loves you. You can trust His hand. You can trust His timing.
Careful readers of these verses will notice that the language of verse 16 is almost identical to the language of a situation surrounding another childless woman in the Bible whose husband was old. Let your eyes fall on these verses as I read to you Genesis chapter 18, verse 10. Keep your eyes on verse 16.
The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
Now, Sarah laughed when she heard Yahweh say that to Abraham — almost like she was saying, “Don’t lie to me.” But the Lord didn’t lie to her, and He doesn’t lie to this woman. He keeps His promise. And He gave Sarah a little boy, who she named Isaac. “He laughs” — that’s what his name means — because the Lord took her incredulous laugh and turned it into a laughter of joy. And I think this Shunammite woman knew exactly what God was saying through Elisha. He’s the man of God. Yahweh speaks through him as Yahweh spoke to Abraham: that she would have a son, like her grandma Sarah. What God did in the past for others, He will do in the present for her.
And I think that, because of what this woman does next. Verse 18.
When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.” Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.”
So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?'” And she answered, “All is well.” And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” Then she said, “Didn’t I ask you for a son? Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t lie to me’?”
He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”
When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
Only those who have lost a child have any idea what this woman is dealing with. The pain is just unimaginable to the rest of us. Death has invaded this woman’s life, but she knew just what to do: turn to the Lord first and fast. As soon as her boy dies, she rushes into action. She lays him on Elisha’s bed. Why do you think that is? She’s going to take her pain, she’s going to take her problem, to the Lord. She’s going to lay her burden at His feet.
She tells her husband, “I need a servant and our fastest donkey. I’m going to see the man of God.” And the husband, probably a little slow on the uptake, is like, “Why? Is everything okay?” And she says this: “All is well.” What? All isn’t well. Your boy is dead. It’s the Hebrew word shalom. It means peace, wholeness, well-being. How can she say that?
This is why I think she’s drawing off the story of Grandma Sarah. Isaac — Sarah’s laughter, the son of promise — also faced death, was also declared dead. Do you remember? And the Lord provided and spared her boy. And this woman rushes to the man of God, and she finds him on the mountain. He sees her coming and sends word to her: “Is everything okay? Is shalom with you? Is shalom with your husband? Is shalom with your boy?” And she says, “Shalom. All is well.”
Verse 27, though, reveals her heart. She came to the mountain, to the man of God, and she caught hold of his feet. I told you not to lie to me. Elisha sends Gehazi ahead in haste, and the woman stays with the prophet. And did you notice she says to Elisha the exact same thing, word for word, that Elisha said to Elijah, from Pastor Matt’s sermon last week? “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” She knew what Elisha knew: that when death invades, there’s only one safe place to be — with the man sent from God.
She is just like the woman who took hold of Jesus’s garments. Come hell, come high water, come affliction, nakedness, danger, sword — I won’t leave Him. He has the words of eternal life. Where else would I go? He is the Lord and the giver of life. He is my peace. He is my wholeness. He’s my well-being. He is my shalom. It is because of Him that I say, “All is well.”
“It Is Well”
There’s a story told of a wealthy Chicago businessman and lawyer who lost almost everything he had in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. When his family was suffering, he thought his family could use a vacation. So he sent his wife and his four daughters ahead of him on a ship for Europe, and he would join them in a few weeks after he had tied up some business matters back home. Some days after they left, he receives a telegram from his wife that the ship carrying his family had collided with another ship and sunk. Only his wife survived. So he immediately set sail for England.
The captain of the ship, aware of this man’s tragedy, summons him when their ship reached the point in the ocean where this man lost his four daughters. Now, it is said — and I don’t know if this is true — but it is said that this man at that time was reading 2 Kings chapter 4. Because at that moment, that man sat down to write words to a song that we have just sung:
When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”
You want to know how this unnamed woman — how Horatio Spafford, the author of “It Is Well” — can say “it is well” in the face of unimaginable suffering? Well, I’ll let Spafford answer that for himself:
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control: that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Elisha came to the place where death had invaded, and he laid himself on the body of the dead child. The author tells us he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, his hands on the boy’s hands — and life returned to the boy, and he was returned to his mother.
Christian, this is how you can say “it is well”: because, in your case, the Man of God, Jesus Christ, has laid Himself down in your death. He has identified Himself with you. He has applied His mouth to your mouth, His eyes to your eyes, His hands to your hands. He went down into death to give you life. Because Christ has regarded your helpless estate, because Christ has shed His own blood for your soul, you can say, “It is well.” This is the blessed assurance that will control all of your life.
So, friends, follow the example of your sister here. Turn to the Lord first and fast. Trust in His hand. When crisis comes, turn to the Lord. When death invades, trust in the Lord.
III. When Death Surrounds, Look to the Lord (2 Kings 4:38–44)
The last thing we’ll see in this text: when death surrounds, look to the Lord. Here’s our last point, to wrap up. Verse 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.” 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 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.
So, there’s a famine. We’ve been here before. Elisha’s with the sons of the prophets. He’s probably teaching — it’s like old-school seminary of some kind or the other. And there are many mouths to feed; later we learn there are like a hundred men. He tells them, “Boil the pot for stew.” And then some dude out gathering herbs unknowingly grabs a poisonous plant, chops it up, and tosses it in. They serve the stew and immediately notice there’s a problem. “There’s death in the pot. Somebody put poison in this pot.” You know what they did? “O man of God!” They turned first and fast to the man of God.
Elisha grabs flour, throws it in the stew, tells the boys, “Eat up.” And they just have to trust that, by the word of the prophet, the Lord is going to do a miracle and make their food safe to eat. They just have to act on faith. Well, it’s kind of like the other stories, isn’t it? Back in chapter 2, last week with Pastor Matt, the Lord did something similar through Elisha. Remember, he threw salt into a bad spring and made it good to drink? If these sons of the prophets were reading their Bible, they would remember it. Exodus 15 — the Lord did something similar through Moses: he threw a piece of wood into bitter water, and it turned sweet. And so these men must trust the Lord that what God did in the past for others, He will do in the present for them. And they must act in faith, believing that God is faithful and will keep His promises.
Verse 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.” 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.
Here’s the thing about hunger: it keeps coming back. Even after God does a miracle and feeds you, you get hungry again. They got hungry again. And a man comes with an offering for Elisha, for his students. It’s not much, but there’s a famine on — twenty loaves of barley, some fresh ears of grain. Elisha tells the servant, “Pass it out, hand it out.” And the servant says, “This isn’t even enough — this isn’t even close to feeding a hundred men.” But the Lord provides, and everyone eats, and there’s some left over.
Do you see what the Lord is doing through each one of these miracles? Long before Elisha was born, the Lord promised through Moses that He would raise up a prophet like Moses who would lead God’s people, whose words would be God’s words. And over and over and over again, throughout this account of the ministry of Elisha, it seems like he might be the guy. Elisha parted the Jordan River like Moses parted the Red Sea. Elisha makes undrinkable water clean, just like Moses. Elisha supplied food when there was none, just like Moses. Remember the “go up, you baldhead” thing? Judgment falls on those who oppose Elisha, just like judgment fell on those who opposed Moses.
And yet for all of Elisha’s greatness — even for all of Moses’s greatness — neither of them could fulfill all of God’s promises. Their ministries were major and great, but they were limited in scope. Elisha might have been able to heal some individuals, but the kingdom was still sick. Elisha can provide food, but as I said, hunger keeps coming back again. And so Moses and Elisha point forward to One who would be the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises of God.
Jesus Christ is the prophet of God, the Man sent from God, through whom all the promises of God find their Yes and Amen. He is the bread that gives eternal life. He is the water that quenches ultimate thirst. His cross is the wood that turns the bitter water sweet. His righteousness is the flour that purges death from the poison stew. His death is the death that brings life to all.
And so, friends, when the crisis comes, when death invades, when death surrounds — turn to the Lord first. Turn to the Lord fast. Trust in His word. Cling to the Man sent from God, because what God did in the past for others, He is faithful to do in the present for you.
Let’s pray. Lord, please receive our thanks. You are the author of life. You’re the giver of life. You’re the sustainer of life. And would You give us grace, that when we find ourselves in crises — even ones of our own invention — we would turn to You first and fast, and find from You all that we need for life and godliness. In Jesus’s name we ask. Amen.