We have been looking at the miracles of Elisha. It is good to remember that these works were done against the backdrop of the widespread idolatry.
• The Northern Kingdom of Israel especially, where Elijah and Elisha ministered, the people had already abandoned God and gone into worshipping Baal.
• Only a remnant remained faithful and continued to seek the God of Israel.
• They gathered, most likely with the prophets, on occasions like New Moon or the Sabbath (that’s what the Shunnamite’s husband mentioned in 4:23), where they worship God and hear from the prophets.
And we have the companies of prophets (the schools for younger prophets) that we read about a few times, who stayed committed to proclaiming God’s truth.
• These faithful ones were the minority, but God showed them, through many miraculous happenings, that He has not deserted them.
• God manifested His presence and His power in unique ways, to assure His own that He would provide for what they need.
We see in 2 Kings 4 God’s care for an unnamed widow with a debt she could not pay, the Shunnamite woman who lost her son, and today, God’s provision of food.
• Let’s read 2 Kings 4:38-41.
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The first incident happened during a famine in the land. Famine has become a common sight because of the judgement of God.
• We read of a famine in Elijah’s time and now in Elisha’s time, and a few more times in the coming chapters.
• 8:1 tells us God has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.
This was not supposed to be because the Promised Land that God gave them was to be a land “flowing with milk and honey” (cf. Exo 3:8), a fruitful land.
• THAT IS, if the people had honoured God and obeyed Him.
• God made this covenant with Israel in Moses’ time. It’s a covenant of blessings if the people remained faithful to Him in the land that God gave them.
And the Lord even explained that this was not because they were more numerous than the rest of the nations (Deut 7:7).
• He has chosen them to be the custodians of His truth. Israel was to be a witness to the nations of God’s truth and righteousness, and to show them that Yahweh is the one and only true God.
• If Israel had been faithful and fulfilled this role well, not only would they themselves be blessed, they would also be able to demonstrate to the nations the futility of the false gods.
But sadly, instead of drawing the nations to God, they followed the nations and worshipped false gods.
• Baal was supposedly a fertility god who was believed to enable the earth to produce crops, but it couldn’t even bring rain.
• The famines came, and Baal could do nothing about them.
Despite the widespread disobedience, there were those who remained faithful to God.
• God will not forsake them. GOD REMEMBERS HIS OWN, even in the midst of the famine.
• The miracles that we have been seeing over the past few weeks proved this.
• The believing remnant is not exempted from the hardships of life but God is with them.
God helps His own overcome the hardships in life because they trust in Him.
• Therefore facing hardships in life does not mean God doesn’t care about you.
• On the contrary, we see God showing His presence and power in the midst of hardships.
In fact, hardships tell MORE about us than God.
• HARDSHIPS REVEAL WHO WE TRUST, in whom are we really trusting.
• They either draw those who love God closer to Him (we cling on to Him), or it widens the gap for those who don’t love Him (and turn our hearts against Him).
• Hardships reveals where our true love and true faith is.
In the first incident, the pot of stew was poisoned. No death was mentioned but clearly the taste was out-of-the-ordinary and not drinkable.
• Elisha stepped in and ordered that some flour be thrown in, and God changed it.
• It was just a pot of stew but the ruin of a pot of stew in a time of famine was significant. God did what was necessary.
The second incident showed there was a shortage of food but the Lord provided through one man’s offering.
• This unknown man came with what looks like his firstfruits offering – 20 loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain and some heads of new grain. (4:42)
• Firstfruit offering is recorded in Lev 23 and it is a time of thanksgiving for God’s provision.
• Usually this would be offered to the priests in the Temple of God but now in this new context, to the gathering of the prophets.
And the Lord specifically told Elisha to take this offering and serve the 100 men present.
• We’ve seen how God uses what we offer Him, the flour and oil of the widow, the 20 loaves, or the 5 loaves 2 fishes, to do His will.
• When offered into His hands, we see how He uses them to accomplish greater things – things that we would otherwise not be able to see if they were left in our own hands.
• Don’t belittle our offerings to God. We give with gratitude and gladness, and leave the rest to God. God accomplishes His purposes through our offerings.
Both accounts tell us GOD IS CONCERNED WITH LITTLE THINGS in our lives.
• God is concerned with our daily bread. For the Jewish people, bread is a staple in their diet.
• We can trust God to provide what we need, because our daily bread matters to Him.
After the Korean War ended, South Korea was left with a large number of children who had been orphaned by the war. Relief agencies came in to deal with all the problems that arose in connection with having so many orphan children.
One problem has to do with the the children in the orphanages. Even though the children had three meals a day provided for them, they were restless and anxious at night and had difficulty sleeping. As they talked to the children, they soon discovered that the children had great anxiety about whether they would have food the next day.
To help resolve this problem, the relief workers in one particular orphanage decided that each night when the children were put to bed, the nurses there would place a single piece of bread in each child’s hand.
The bread wasn’t intended to be eaten; it was simply intended to be held by the children as they went to sleep. It was a “security blanket” for them, reminding them that there would be provision for their daily needs.
Sure enough, the bread calmed the children’s anxieties and helped them sleep.
Our security is in our loving Father, who knows and will provide.
• We can take comfort in knowing that our needs are cared for by our heavenly Father above. That’s the words of Jesus.
• Jesus says in Matt 6:32-34 “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
• God promised, through Elisha that “They will eat and have some left over.” (4:43b)
• And the author stressed it again, that “they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.” (4:44) GOD KEEPS HIS WORD.
The words of man say in 4:43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” The Word of God says, “You will have some left over.” (4:44) GOD HAS THE FINAL WORD.
Human deficiency (like making a mistake with the stew) or limitation (like having not enough bread) can never be obstacles to God.
• They are there to show us our need of God. Such times heighten our desperate need and show us that God is Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider, the only ONE whom we can rely upon.
• And such times are NECESSARY, because otherwise, we might grow to be so independent of God and feeling we don’t really need Him.
Let me close with this thought.
Imagine you are going on a trip but without luggage, no basic necessities, no money or credit cards. That’s scary right?
• That was what Jesus told His 12 disciples to do once, when He sent them out on their first mission trip.
• Mark 6:8-9 “These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.”
• Later on, after the Last Supper, Jesus asked them – Luke 22:35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
• “Nothing,” they answered.
Why do you think Jesus did that? To teach them, through real life experiences, that God can provide. This is not something they can learn in a classroom.
• Where did their supplies come from? Maybe from fellow believers or well-wishers.
• Whatever the means, the disciples had everything they needed to carry out what Jesus had called them to do.
• The point is this: You can trust God to provide. “God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” ? James Hudson Taylor.
Can we trust God to provide for our needs?
• Are we willing to offer our 20 loaves, 5 loaves 2 fishes, our 2 very small copper coins, and allow God to do His work and fulfil His will?
• Can we trust God to supply what we need to serve where He has called us?
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” (Psalm 23:1)
• All the way my Saviour leads me, what have I to ask beside?
