July 30, 2008
Death
in the Pot
In
my quiet time this morning I was spending some time in the Old Testament looking
at the miracles of Elisha. There are a number of these miracles recorded in
Scripture, all in the book of Second Kings.
In
particular I was pondering the purification of the stew or as some call it
"Death in a Pot".
2
Kings 4:38-41 NET
Now
Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the
prophets were visiting him and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the
fire and boil some stew for the prophets." Someone went out to the field to
gather some herbs and found a wild vine. He picked some of its fruit, enough to
fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices into
the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. The stew was poured out for the men
to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot,
O prophet!” They could not eat it. He said, “Get some flour.” Then he
threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may
eat.” There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.
This
is an actual historical event and shows the power that God had given Elisha as
His Prophet. It's interesting enough on it's own but what does it mean? What is
the current day application?
It's
in the Bible for a reason. The Scriptures could undoubtedly recorded many such
miracles done by Elisha or others, so why this one? I believe there is a strong
message in it for us.
Why
was there a famine in the land. If you read the earlier part of 2 Kings you will
discover it is because Israel had turned from God and were worshipping idols.
The people were hungry because of God's judgment on their faithlessness. There
is also a hunger for something other than physical food, a hunger for God's
word. We need more than physical food for our lives.
Deuteronomy
8:3 NET
So
he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna.
He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by
everything that comes from the Lord's mouth.
In
their spiritual hunger the people of Elisha's day swallowed the teaching of the
Baal’s. It seemed harmless enough, but just a little sin in a big pot can ruin
everything.
1
Corinthians 5:6b NET
Don't
you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?
Today
people follow all kinds of false teachers and the doctrines of demons. We chase
many things to fill our spiritual hunger. All of them promise to fulfill, but
most only poison us.
The
flour (or Word of God, Bread of Life) is the antidote. Through that we can find
salvation from our sins as it introduces us to Jesus, the one in whom we must
have faith and helps give guidance against future poisoning.
We
will starve to death physically without food. We can starve to death spiritually
by not taking in God's Word. Most of our world is dying spiritually. It is a
needless death because God's Word is available in more editions and translations
than at any point of time in history. The Bible is the World's largest selling
book of all time. It's available on tape, CD, MP3 and other electronic formats.
It's available in more languages than ever before.
Many
are starving to death with the antidote sitting on a shelf or in a drawer in
their home gathering dust or only a few keystrokes away on the 'net.
There
is death in the pot, but there is life in the Word.
Until
next time may you feast on the Word of God,
on
it and it alone with no additives!
Don’t’
let there be death in your pot and
for
sure don’t you be the one to put it there!
Be
blessed,
Darrel
Mason