Elisha - Pt 9

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 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!” 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. (2 Kings 4:38-41 ESV). This story in our reading today is one of the most enigmatic in Elisha ministry. There was a famine and he and his disciples were hungry. They needed to forage for some food. That was a common practice in his day. They went out into the fields and gathered what they thought would be edible plants. No one had any idea they might kill the entire community. However, as soon as they tasted it they recognized the peril of eating it. It was deadly. They probably had found some of the wild desert gourds, or colocynth. The seeds inside the ripe gourd are edible after they are completely separated from the very bitter pulp. They are somewhat bitter themselves but rich in fat and protein. The flowers are also edible. The succulent stem tips can be chewed to obtain water; however, the fruit is a powerful laxative and can cause violent stomach cramps if ingested. This can even cause death. As this story describes it, creation after the Fall is a long way from the Garden. Now the earth experiences famine and produces food that brings death instead of life. In a fallen world our hopes and expectations fall desperately short of reality. We taste the physical and communal consequences of radical disruption in creation. The question raised is this: Are the gifts of creation good enough to sustain God’s people? Into this context Elisha manifests God’s abundant grace and providential care yet again. With a flick of the wrist, flour transforms the deadly stew into a life-sustaining meal. But the community is required to trust this is so before any evidence supports it. “Serve it to the people and let them eat,” Elisha says, after they have all cried, “Death in the pot!” In the end, God’s goodness prevails, death is defeated, the poison is undone, and the people eat and are satisfied. It is another illustration of the wonder of the work of Christ. Crucified, placed in a borrowed tomb, he defeats death forever in the resurrection! When our enemy tries to instill fear in us from any quarter, our answer is always that God has already secured the victory. Trust Him!