This chapter contains multiple accounts of God working miracles through Elisha, including multiplying oil, impossible conception, raising a child from the dead, purifying poisonous food, and multiplying food to feed a crowd.
“And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, [Elisha] said… ‘Set on the large pot, and boil stew…’ One of them went out into the field… and gathered… wild gourds, and… cut them up 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!’ …He said, ‘Then bring flour.’ And [Elisha] 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.” (v38-41 abr)
One of the men present unknowingly gathered poisonous gourds and added them into the stew. Once they started eating, someone recognized that it was harmful, and cried out to Elisha for help. Through supernatural knowledge and God’s miraculous intervention, the poison was neutralized. I say miraculous, because flour itself may dilute poison, but I cannot find a reference of it curing or neutralizing poison. God intervened through Elisha and saved the lives of these people.
This account has huge symbolism – how often do we partake of something, not knowing that it’s harmful or even deadly? ‘It’s just a little white lie, what’s the harm?’ ‘This won’t harm anybody else.’ ‘Everyone else is doing it, surely it’s safe for me too.’ ‘I’m not _____ enough to serve God in this way, so I’m doing the right thing by declining His calling.’ Too often we are deceived, and that deception often leads us to sin (sometimes unknowingly), and sin is poisonous to our spirit.
God longs to cleanse us of ‘poison’ (sin), those things that we have unknowingly allowed into our hearts, minds and bodies that are harmful to us. It seems/seemed innocent at first, but later has/had dire consequences.
It is also important to note that the moment someone realized the stew was harmful, they stopped eating it. Do we ever continue consuming ‘poison’, increasing its harmful affects? Sometimes the initial affect of sin can be so subtle, yet like interest on a loan, it compounds over time and eventually becomes overwhelming or even deadly.
I encourage us to learn how to identify when and where we’re being ‘poisoned’ – since we were blind to it in the first place, this process involves inviting God (the Spirit) to give us insight. Once the ‘poisoning’ source is identified, we can stop consuming it and cry out to God to save us. He will gladly rescue our spirits from eternal death, and teach us how to avoid consuming more ‘poison’, if only we ask Him to do so.
Father God, our Glorious and Sovereign Lord, You are rich in mercy and grace. Thank you for pouring out Your Spirit upon us, blessing us with discernment and wisdom. Thank you for helping us to identify and avoid additional sin in our lives. Thank you for Your forgiveness of sin through Jesus’ death on the cross. Thank you for saving our eternal lives and snatching us from the jaws of spiritual death. We honor, praise, adore and worship You, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training