"Death In The Pot"
2 Kings 4:38-41
Someone has observed that we live in a “cut-flower civilization” today. We speak of justice, morals, peace, and ethics, but do not establish a rooted foundation in God. Therefore there is little left to sustain a purposeful life. Things can look good on the outside, and sound good to the human ear, but if it is disconnected from the True Vine, it is like cut flowers that although they are beautiful for a moment, they will die in no time at all.
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Man today is trying to give humanistic answers to spiritual problems to solve the emptiness of the soul, but it cannot be done....
The answer may often sound right, look right, and even be politically correct, but we realize that apart from Jesus Christ the answer is only fleeting and will not last...
2 Kings 4:38-41 Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men." [39] One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. [40] The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it. [41] Elisha said, "Get some flour." He put it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
These sons of the Prophets were being taught by Elisha... In other words, they were in Bible School learning about the power of God, and who better to learn under than Elisha the Prophet?
They were doing what was right as they were feasting on manna from God in their spirits, but their bodies were becoming tired and hungry...
Here they were no doubt in the center of the Will of God, yet enduring a time of testing!
The Bible says in vs. 1 that
I. There was a dearth in the Land.
Famine had come into that land touching every area of it, and the School of the Prophets was no exception to what was happening...
The fact that we do the will of God does not release us from times of trial and testing...
It rains on the just and the unjust, but we see that the famine didn’t break this community of men up, it drew them closer together...
Here were men that were feeling the famine with growling stomachs like you and I would...
Just go ahead and try to delay my food, and see what happens!
They could have lashed out at Elisha wondering where God was!
Where is the God that fed Elijah with ravens by the brook?
Where is the God that multiplied the widows cruse of oil?
Where is the God that parted the waters for Elisha when he struck the waters with Elijah’s cloak?
Where is the God who took Elijah up into heaven with blazing chariots and horses.
They might have said, if God can do all of those things, then surely we don’t have to struggle here with where our next meal is coming from.
No, they had the resolve of a man like Job who said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him..."
Often we can look around us and only see dearth, famine, and destruction, but if there is ever a day for the church to stick together it is now!
The Bible says Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
When the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Hebrews to write this portion of scripture that as the coming of the Lord drew nearer that perilous times would come, and we would need the support of one another more than ever...
The H.S. knew that there would be a tendency to forsake God’s house and fellowship with His people, but He said, don’t let it happen! As you realize the day is approaching, get in there more! don’t let up! We need a relationship with God more than ever!
Old John was a man of God and loved his village chapel. One day he was stopped by an acquaintance, who, by the way, was an ardent angler. "I say, John," said the angler, "I have often wondered what attraction there is up at the village chapel. You go week after week to the same old chapel, see the same folks, sing the same old hymns." "Wait a minute," interrupted John. "You fish very often at the same spot, and in the same water, do you not?" "Yes, that’s true," agreed the other. John smiled, and then exclaimed: "Well, you do not, for the water you fished in yesterday has passed on to the sea; and every time I go up to the chapel the Lord has something fresh for me." --Sunday School Times
The enemy of our souls knows that there is strength in numbers and power in unity...
He knows that often if he can keep the famine up long enough in our lives that often even as Christians we begin to bite and devour one another, and scatter..
We might begin to drift, and before long have drifted far away from the governing guidance of Christ in our lives.
There is a spiritual dearth in the land as America tries to redefine what our values as a nation are, and it’s up to the church to stand up, and be convinced that what we have to offer is the only answer for this nation that has forsaken God...
This can only happen as the church is unified...
The Sons of the Prophets may not have known what to do, but they knew it was time to stick together...
Elisha told the men to set the pot on the fire, and begin to prepare food...
No doubt there was a cheer as these hungry men realized that their stomachs were about to get fed...
Elisha realized that there may not be much around, but what little there was, they were going to begin to use it to do something about their situation...
As the pot was put on, the fire grew hotter, perhaps there was a festive atmosphere of anticipation for what was ahead..
The bible says that one of the prophets began to gather herbs and wild gourds in the fields, and he came back with a lapful of them that appeared to be edible and shred them into the boiling pottage...
2 Kings 4:39 One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.
So not only do we see a dearth in the Land, but now
II. Death in the Pot
Here were men who were willing to put anything in the pot as long as it looked right and edible on the outside...
They sat down to a hearty meal, and as they began to eat, they began to taste the awful gourds that had been placed in the pot, and realized that something just wasn’t right...
As hungry as they were, they knew if they were to keep on eating that the poisonous gourds in the pot would kill them all...
The little bit of consolation they had only a few moments before was now being taken from them...
We see in this that there is a danger of being deceived by
Appearance...
Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother. The first said, "I built a big house for our mother." The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver." The third smiled and said, "I’ve got you both beat. You remember how mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can’t see very well. So I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He’s one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it." Soon thereafter, mom sent out her letters of thanks: "Milton," she wrote one son, "The house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house." "Gerald," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel. I stay most of the time at home, so I rarely use the Mercedes. And the driver is so rude!" "Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious."
Things are not often what they seem to be on the outside...
What may look like the answer may turn out to be poisoning your spiritual food.... "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8)
We live in a day more than ever that we need what it says in Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
It is only from constant exposure to the word, and the genuine that we are able to distinguish between it and the counterfeit...
We might say, “well, a lot of people are following this certain way, so it must be right!”
This church is big so they must be preaching the truth, or that church is small, so they must be preaching the truth!
One of the greatest ways I used to try to convince my parents of the rightness of a certain practice, was “well, everybody is doing it”. They would firmly inform me that “we are not everybody”.
We must be sure that our lives and methods are lining up to the word of God.
Even churches today are content with allowing Death in the Pot, through watered down teachings and theology that is full of things that please the senses, but do nothing for the soul but produce spiritual destruction...
Other vines may seem like the answer like drugs, alcohol, money, relationships, pleasurable pursuits, but Jesus Christ said, "I Am The True Vine"!
All of these other things will only produce Death In The Pot!
Often the sinner, and yes, even the Christian looks for things to satisfy and nourish w/o a relationship with Christ...
The wild gourds of the world as appealing as they may look when your soul is starving for satisfaction will never fill the void...
Their bitterness will be realized after awhile, and hopefully before it’s too late to do something about it...
Not only can we be deceived by appearance, but also
2. Good intentions may lead to bad mistakes
The person who gathered the gourds no doubt thought them to be innocent, and in fact good for the others, but still there were poisonous effects that took place...
Just because someone is sincere, doesn’t mean they are right...
A person can be sincerely searching for the void to be filled, but could get mixed up with all kinds of strange religions or cults such as we have seen!
Without Jesus Christ as the sole way to Salvation and heaven, believe me, there is Death in the Pot! John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
One of the most used ways of excusing troublemakers in churches is to say, "they mean well". That may be true, but if it’s producing "death in the pot" and division in the ranks, it’s wrong!
One posionous gourd spoiled the whole pot, and we realize that even today a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump...
The gourd now was not the only thing that was poisonous, but because of it’s terrible effect the whole pot was... All of the healthy things in that pot were poisoned as a result of only a few bad gourds shredded up into it...
This man was sincere in what he did, but sincerely wrong to the point of almost producing death among his brothers!
They didn’t know what it was they were putting in, but simply because the man was sincere in what he was doing still didn’t take away the fact that it poisoned the whole pot!
When the Gospel of Jesus Christ is adulterated and polluted by man, it makes the whole thing poisonous...
Cults thrive on this, as they attempt to mix their sensual, humanistic, philosophies with the word of God, but it only produces death and destruction in the end...
We see that there was a timely discovery of what was happening, which helped to save their lives...
They couldn’t eat any more or they knew they would die if they did, but in the world today people often realize that what they are doing is wrong and will lead to destruction, continue to partake believing they can mix the things of the world with the things of God and still live...
What a blindness the enemy has brought to not only the sinner, but often to the Christian who chooses to live in a place of compromise and apathy to sin...
They hear that:
- Unfaithfulness to God’s house leads to unfaithfulness to God, and pass it off as judgemental preaching or teaching. Be careful, there is death in that pot.
- Habits and sins will send them to hell, and pass it off as hard or unfair teaching. Be careful, there is death in that pot too.
- Pursuit of worldly pleasures will bring death, and pass it off as someone who doesn’t know how to have a good time. Be careful, there is death in that pot too.
- Prayerlessness will produce backsliding, and pass it off as an old fashioned teaching that is not needed today. Be careful, there is death in that pot too.
We go on to the next point and that is that
III. The Pottage Was Healed
Elisha said, "Bring Meal" or flour and pour it into the pot...
This flour had no healing elements in itself, even though it was a wholesome food, it still could not remove the poison by itself...
The idea presented here is that when you place the wholesome into the poisoned part, that the good will overcome the evil that is present.
People think that they must search through every detail and area of their lives rooting out all the bad, and by doing so, then there is room for the Word of God to take root in their lives. I believe when we come to God today with a desire to do the will of God, He pours Himself into us to a degree that evil has no choice but to flee in the presence of the Holiness and Kingship of Jesus Christ.
The unwholesome was replaced by the wholesome as another miracles was brought through the hands of the prophet Elisha...
We realize today that only a true miracle can cleanse our lives and make them clean before God...
It’s His Grace, and His Grace alone that produces the miracles in our lives...
When we get rid of our solutions and rest on God’s, "the pottage is healed", lives are healed, churches are healed, as we get back to the life Jesus Christ has to offer...
We see the cure in 2 Chron. 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
It’s not in new church programs, dinners, buildings, denominations, or education, though all these things may be good...
They are only good as they are seasoned with the power of God and the life of Jesus Christ...
Nothing can cure the ills of our churches today, but a return to powerful praying...
I believe that when we do our part, God will do His...
Are you willing to dedicate your life without compromise to Him?
