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So we're gonna take up the second 
two or the last two miracles in chapter four. Last time we 
saw the widow's oil and the Shunammite's son who had died and been raised. Tonight, we're gonna look at 
this purification of stew and the provision of bread for 100 
men. So I'll begin reading in verse 
38. And Elisha returned to Gilgal 
and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets 
were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, Put on 
the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. 
So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a 
wild vine, and gathered from it a lap full of wild gourds, 
and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they 
did not know what they were. Then they served it to the men 
to eat. Now what happened is they were 
eating the stew that they cried out and said, man of God, there 
is death in the pot. And they could not eat it. So 
he said, then bring some flour. And he put it into the pot and 
said, serve it to the people that they may eat. And there 
was nothing harmful in the pot. Then a man came from Baal, Shalisha, 
and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves 
of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he 
said, Give it to the people, that they may eat. But his servant 
said, What, shall I set this before one hundred men? He said 
again, give it to the people that they may eat. For thus says 
the Lord, they shall eat and have some left over. So he set 
it before them and they ate and had some left over according 
to the word of the Lord. So it's a relatively brief section 
and a relatively simple section in terms of exposition. So we'll 
look at it briefly and then draw out several lines of application. 
But I just wanted to re-quote Davis who said, we enter into 
a segment of Elisha's ministry in which he shows Yahweh's power 
as triumphant over debt. We saw that in verses 1 to 7, 
over death in verses 8 to 37, drought in verses 38 to 44, two 
episodes. Disease will be in chapter 5, 
and then difficulty in chapter 6. So it is a manifestation or 
a demonstration of God's power through his prophet Elisha to 
very real and very tangible and very earthy needs that people 
have. We see in this section that God 
is in fact concerned with the major movements in world history, 
specifically the Moabite rebellion in 2 Kings chapter 3, But he 
also comes to render aid to persons in need at what we might consider 
a more small level. It's not the great big thing 
of nation against nation, but in the ebb and flow of men's 
lives in the kingdom of God, God is there for them. So, let's 
look first at this purification of Stu in verses 38 to 41. Now, it's similar to what Elisha 
has already done in chapter 2, when he was in Bethel, or in 
Jericho rather, and he purified the water. The water there was 
bad water. It produced barrenness. It produced 
all kinds of calamity. and Elisha, under God, purified 
that water. He used a bowl and salt and he 
put it in there. It wasn't that that was magic, 
it was the word of the Lord that healed those waters. Well, the 
same thing is true here. But note the situation. Verse 
38 indicates that things are not well in the land. It says, 
Elisha returned to Gilgal. That's where he had been with 
Elijah prior to Elijah's translation. And then it goes on to say, and 
there was a famine in the land. Now, that's not just in Gilgal. The land refers to Israel. And if you're familiar with Leviticus 
26 and Deuteronomy 28, we refer to those often. Those are the 
covenant blessings and covenant cursings. at the plains of Moab. We'll look at that one in Deuteronomy 
28. God Almighty tells the nation of Israel, if you go into the 
land and you obey my covenant, you obey my law, there will be 
blessing. There will be, you know, blessing 
on the land. There will be blessing in your homes. There will be 
economic prosperity and all sorts of good things. But if you go 
into the land and you disobey and you engage in wickedness 
and covenantal infidelity, then there will be curses. And one 
of the curses is famine. And so when we read here in verse 
38 that there was a famine in the land, we'll continue to see 
that that's the backdrop of this section in 2 Kings. It's repeated 
again in chapter 8 at verse 1. So famine in Israel usually indicates 
that God is judging the nation. God is displeased with what's 
going on in the nation, and so he has brought this covenant 
curse to bear upon them. So we see there the famine. And 
then notice this stew. Elisha returned, there was a 
famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets 
were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, put on 
the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. Now 
typically, when we read of a famine in the land, that doesn't mean 
there's no food whatsoever. The idea of drought doesn't mean 
no water whatsoever, but it's certainly something that limits 
the capacities of men to survive. But in this instance, Elisha 
is visiting these sons of the prophets. Remember that there 
were these schools of the prophets. There were these places started, 
no doubt, by Elijah. where men would gather, they 
would be trained, they would engage in edification and encouragement 
one to another, and they were, in many respects, the thing that 
was actually holding the nation together by the grace of God. But he visits with these prophets, 
Elisha does, for instruction, encouragement, and then as well 
to confirm his place as the prophet of God. All of this is confirmatory 
or authenticating. All the miracles that he does, 
it does serve particular needs, but it also validates that he 
is the man of God and that his word is indeed the word of God. 
Now notice this instruction to prepare stew to feed the prophets. Matthew Henry made this comment. 
He said, on the lecture day, the sons of the prophets being 
all to attend, he ordered his servant to provide food for their 
bodies while he was breaking to them the bread of life for 
their souls. I quite like that. He wants to 
make sure that they're able to eat while he is indeed feeding 
them with the truth of God in terms of edification and instruction 
and encouragement for their usefulness in ministry there in Israel. 
Now note the problem in verses 39 to 40. Verse 39 says, So one 
went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, 
and gathered from it a lap full of wild gourds, and came and 
sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what 
they were. Now that last bit is a bit ambiguous. We're not 
sure if it was the group that didn't know that he put this 
into the pot, or if they, to a man, didn't know what kind 
of a gourd this was. But suffice it to say, bad things 
were placed into this pot. Now the older commentators, and 
Davis agrees, that it was probably citrullus calcintus. which produces a small yellow 
melon that acts as a strong laxative. A large quantity can be fatal, 
so it's not a good thing that they're about to ingest, and 
they realize this. Matthew Henry here again says 
something very perceptive. As I get older, and hopefully 
more seasoned, the more I appreciate Matthew Henry and Matthew Poole. 
These brothers are just fantastic. But listen to what Henry says. 
He says, the sons of the prophets, it seems, were better skilled 
in divinity than in natural philosophy. That's what the old boys called 
science. They were better skilled in divinity than in natural philosophy, 
and read their Bibles more than their herbals. So they didn't 
know what gourd it was they had picked up and plopped into that 
stew pot, and so this is indeed a bad thing. However, the implication 
ought to encourage those of us who seek to honor God, we have 
good intentions at times, but we make mistakes along the way. 
God in His goodness overrules this. Not everybody ends up having 
to run to the bathroom or ultimately run to the emergency room to 
get some sort of treatment because they ingested this poisonous 
gourd. But God, in His grace and in 
His mercy, overrules this. No doubt the one who went into 
the field to gather the herbs, more in tune with divinity than 
he was with natural philosophy, thought it was a good thing to 
grab this little yellow melon-looking fruit, or gourd rather, and put 
it into the stew pot. It was well-intentioned, but 
it was mistaken. And God in His goodness overruled 
that. Now, we ought to appreciate that, 
but with this miracle and the next, it ought not to be universalized. In other words, the scope of 
these miracles ought to be considered. Just because we see that these 
men, these prophets, didn't get poisoned, we don't lift that 
out of its context and then somehow think, we'll never get poisoned. 
I can eat whatever I want because I'm never going to get poisoned 
because God will make... No, don't live like that. Don't 
put poisonous gourds in your stew pot. Be wise and exercise 
judicious pursuit of natural philosophy when it comes to stuff 
you're going to put down your gullet. Don't be a fool and universalize 
a miracle and then start living as a fool in light of it. Same 
thing with the feeding of these 100. The idea that Jesus teaches 
us that we need to pray that God give us this day our daily 
bread indicates, at least on the part of Jesus, that our provision 
isn't going to be a miraculous multiplication of loaves and 
fish every day that we live. We need to seek God. We need 
to ask God. We need to trust God. We need 
to depend upon God. But with reference to this, we 
ought not to universalize it, but we ought to take some comfort 
that even though this man was mistaken, the Lord nevertheless 
overruled this particular situation. So there's death in the pot, 
verse 40. They served it to the men to 
eat. Now what happened is they were 
eating the stew. They cried out and said, man of God, there is 
death in the pot, and they could not eat it. Now note the remedy. 
He said, then bring some flour. Now this is like that salt in 
the new bowl that was used to purify the waters at Jericho. The salt in the new bowl was 
not magic, it didn't have healing properties. It wasn't the case 
that you could take that, put it into any body of water and 
it would somehow clean it up. It wasn't iodine, it wasn't some 
water purification salt, but rather it was a sign, an emblem, 
a symbol And that's how this flower functions here. It's not 
the case that this flower can neutralize the poisonous effect 
of this gourd. As Matthew Poole says, it happens 
too quickly. It's not the case that the flower 
exercises some healing properties into this stew pot. Rather, it's 
a symbol or a sign or an emblem and a display of God's power. much like water is useful to 
us in baptism, or much like bread and wine are useful to us in 
the Lord's Supper. It's an unofficial sort of a 
sacrament. It's an unofficial sort of pledge 
that God is at work. I say unofficial in terms of 
salt in a bowl, and flour in a stew pot. Official sacraments 
include baptism and the Lord's Supper, but you see in the history 
of Israel, you see in the New Covenant Church, that God uses 
these emblems to help the people of God. Not that we live by sight, 
but these visual reminders keep us from going astray. They help 
us. Baptism, Lord's Supper are constant 
emblems and signs of what God has done for us in and through 
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's probably how this 
flower functions in this particular capacity. Davis says visible 
signs are God's defense against spiritual amnesia. And then notice 
at the end of verse 41, and there was nothing harmful in the pot. So they're able to eat this stew 
and to receive sustenance in a time of famine. Now notice, 
secondly, the provision for 100 men. Verse 42 indicates the resources. Notice, then a man came from 
Baal-shalisha and brought the man of God bread of the first 
fruits, 20 loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his 
knapsack. Now, this is a great indicator 
that there was still faith in Israel. Verse 38 indicates that 
there was, in fact, a famine. Already said that there is no 
doubt God's judgment upon the land as a result of that. Ahab 
was a wretch, the kings after him, the kings prior to him, 
Jeroboam the son of Nebat. These men were terrible servants 
of God Most High, and they drove the kingdom into the ground. 
But this is an evidence that what God spoke in 1 Kings 19 
18 was in fact true. God said, I have reserved for 
myself 7,000 knees that will not bow to Baal or kiss him. So God had a remnant in place, 
and this is evidence of that. Because it was the case, according 
to the law in Exodus 23, in Leviticus chapter 23, Numbers 18, Deuteronomy 
18, the first fruits were to be presented to the house of 
the Lord, specifically to the priest. Now note where this man 
from Baal-Shelisha takes his first fruits. When there's a 
corrupt priesthood, when these priests are servants of Baal 
as they serve Ahab or as they serve Ahaziah or as they serve 
Jehoram, those wicked kings, when those men are not engaged 
in the true worship of the living God and they are false and they 
are fakes, then what does this man do? He takes these first 
fruits to Elisha the prophet. This is a wonderful display that 
there was indeed a remnant. There was, in fact, faith in 
Israel. Hubbard says, in this case, however, 
the man brought it to Elisha, bypassing in protest the apostate 
northern religious leaders at the sanctuary nearby at Bethel. 
He passes that, comes to Gilgal so he can find Elisha to present 
him with these first fruits. That is the evidence that there 
is faith. Howe says, not all Israelites 
adopted the religion of Jeroboam and Ahab. Faithful individuals 
supported the separatist Yahweh prophets. The Lord did indeed 
reserve 7,000 who refused to worship Baal. You see, that little 
sign, or that little statement in verse 42, I mean, obviously 
the existence of these schools of the prophets, obviously Elisha, 
but not just in terms of the prophetic class, but there were 
men in Israel that had not bowed the knee to Baal. And so this 
man brings his first fruits, he brings these 20 loaves of 
barley bread, newly ripened grain in his knapsack, and he presents 
it to Elisha. Now note Elisha's instruction. He says, give it to the people 
that they may eat. That's a good thing, isn't it? 
Elisha's not going to hoard. He's not going to save it up 
for next week. He's going to make sure that all the people 
that are present are going to eat. And now the man is smart 
enough to realize that 20 loaves and a bit of grain isn't going 
to be enough or sufficient to feed this multitude. Now, if 
you're thinking New Testament, you should be, because Elisha 
here is functioning as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, which 
we'll investigate in a little more detail as we continue tonight. But simple mathematics dictated 
that the 20 loaves and bit of grain would not sufficiently 
feed the 100 men, that are present at this particular setting. So 
the servant says what? Shall I set this before 100 men? So Elisha said again, give it 
to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, they 
shall eat and have some left over. So we see the instruction 
is based on the Word of God. The instruction includes present 
provision, and the instruction includes future provision as 
well. There will be some left over. 
Just like with that widow's oil, she filled up all of the vessels, 
she was able to pay off her debts, and then she had some left for 
her and her sons to sustain themselves. We have another Ephesians 3 verse 
20 moment in this particular text. He not only provides, but 
he does exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. He not only feeds them presently, 
but there's also leftovers. Now, this is a time of famine. I think it's tough for us as 
North Americans to really get into passages like these. wherein, 
in an agrarian society, food gathering was a whole lot more 
labor-intensive than it is for us. In fact, a large part of 
your life was founded on getting food. Okay, so when we read through 
this and we see this reference in verse 38 to famine in the 
land, we really should let that sink in for a moment. Famine 
in the land for us means Costco's out of my favorite brand of peanut 
butter. I just can't have that. I just 
complained today to somebody that Superstore doesn't ever 
have the coffee that I like. That's a famine in the land in 
North America. But in this particular context, 
famine in the land meant death. So much of life at that particular 
time was about gathering food, storing food, getting food. It wasn't the case that they 
had a Walmart, a Superstore, a Price Mart, shelves full of 
breakfast cereal. There's more stuff in one aisle 
of our stores than we could ever use in a lifetime if it was able 
to be preserved for that long. We just take it for granted, 
but in this situation, the fact that there are these 20 loaves 
of barley bread, some newly ripened grain in his knapsack, no doubt 
these persons are watching this transaction when this man hands 
over the food to Elisha, and they're licking their lips. The 
hunger pangs are ringing inside of them. It wasn't that they 
just finished a great big meal and they don't care about barley 
loaves. They see this and it looks enticing. So God not only 
provides for them, but there's leftovers. There's more for later. You see a famine in the land 
and nevertheless God is showing grace and mercy and kindness 
and goodness to his people on the ground. And then notice that 
is precisely what transpires in verse 44. So, he set it before 
them, and they ate, and had some left over according to the word 
of the Lord. So, as I said, it's a very brief 
section. As Matthew Henry says, he says, 
he made hurtful food to become safe and wholesome. He made a 
little food to go a great way. Those are the two things operative 
in this particular passage, but I think there are several lessons 
that we need to appreciate. In the first place, and I'm taking 
this right from Davis, he speaks of the earthiness of God. The 
earthiness of God. And what does he mean by that? He means God is a real world 
God. God is in the muck with His people. God knows where we're at, God 
knows the situations we face, and God is there for us, the 
earthiness of God. Davis says these two episodes, 
this brief section, verses 38 to 44, use the verb to eat Eight times. That's not accidental. Because verse 38 tells us there's 
a famine in the land. Doesn't that naturally suggest, 
again, as North American readers, we probably go right over verse 
38 without giving it a second thought. But whenever you read 
there's famine in the land in the biblical narrative, the natural 
question that should present itself would be, well, what are 
they going to eat? If you came home and you told 
your wife and your kids, you know, dad lost his job, I would 
imagine they would say, well, what are we going to eat? Or 
they probably at some point will say that, what are we going to 
eat? And so that verb is used eight times in this brief section. And notice he goes on to say, 
without becoming Marxists, we can see a very important point 
here. Yahweh is very earthy. Daily bread matters to him. How close the God of the Bible 
is to where you live. I think that's a good observation 
and one that's helpful to remind us with reference to the mundane 
affairs of our lives. A second thing that we ought 
to appreciate is the faithful response in a faithless regime. In other words, what is the faithful 
man's response in a faithless regime? Well, you function in 
accordance with the law, verse 42. Now, brethren, that was a 
sacrifice. Remember, there's famine not 
just in Gilgal, but in Baal Sheleshah. There is famine in the land. 
And for this man to take his stuff, this precious food, and 
take it to the prophet Elisha and turn it over to him to do 
with as Elisha sees fit, that's an act of faith. He's obeying 
the law of God even when circumstances are against him. He's obeying 
the law of God even when the government is against him. He's 
obeying the law of God as a faithful man in a faithless regime. We ought to appreciate as well 
that God does provide for his faithful ones during a faithless 
regime. The fact that there were schools 
of prophets. The fact that there was Elijah 
the prophet. The fact that there was Elisha 
the prophet. Why does God send those men to 
this particular region? Because there was a remnant. 
There were those who had not bowed the knee to Baal. There 
were those who had not succumbed to Baal worship. They wanted 
to serve Yahweh, and so the prophetic ministry continued. So God deals 
with His faithful people in the midst of a faithless regime. 
And a third lesson with reference to this particular point is one 
that I think is difficult as well, is that the faithful oftentimes 
suffer along with the faithless. Notice, it doesn't say in verse 
38, Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in the 
land. So God raptured the faithful out of the land for the period 
of time that there was a famine. Or God set up tent cities for 
the faithful. No, he did provide for them through 
the ministry of his law, through the ministry of his prophets. 
But brethren, when a faithless regime drives the nation into 
a ditch, And when persons all around us start to engage in 
idolatry and cry out to God for judgment, oftentimes God visits 
nations with judgment and the righteous suffer alongside of 
that. I think gives us some impetus 
to pray for the good of the nation that we are in. I mean, it could 
sound self-interested, God bless the nation so that I don't end 
up in trouble, but isn't that in essence what Paul tells us 
in 1 Timothy chapter 2? In fact, you can turn there so 
you can see that I'm not making this up. I think it's got at 
least in the context or there's an allusion or some sort of frame 
of reference to the letter to the exiles by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 
chapter 29. Go to 1st Timothy 2, but just 
while you're turning there, think of Jeremiah chapter 29. The people 
of Israel, Judah specifically, are in captivity in Babylon. And God tells them, very specifically, 
to pray for the peace of the city that you indwell. In other 
words, pray for a pagan Babylonian city. Why? So that you can continue to flourish 
and thrive and populate and have children and eventually return 
back to Judah. Pray for the peace of the city 
that you dwell in. Notice Paul in 1 Timothy 2.1, 
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, 
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for 
kings and all who are in authority. Notice, that we may lead a quiet 
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. In other words, 
pray for the governing authorities so that they don't outlaw Christianity. 
Pray for the governing authorities so that they don't throw you 
into prison. Pray for the governing authorities so that you may continue 
to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 
I don't think it's untoward and I think it's absolutely positively 
a good thing to pray that God's will be done on earth as it is 
in heaven. Because when men continue to 
violate his law, when they continue to butcher babies and butcher 
old people and butcher sick people, when they continue to engage 
in flagrant abuse of God's holy law and he sends vengeance down 
from heaven, he doesn't cart the believers off first to a 
particular province where they can be safe until the judgment 
passes. Brethren, believers go through 
these sorts of things as well, and we, knowing that, ought to 
be a prayerful people and interceding people, not only for our own 
benefit, but for the sakes of governmental authority, for families, 
for society. These are legitimate things to 
cry out to God for. So faithfulness in a faithless 
regime ought to be the pursuit. And then thirdly, we ought to 
appreciate as a whole these four miracles in chapter four. The widow's oil, the Shunammite 
sun, the pot of stew, and these hundred men. In the first place, 
the Lord is not only concerned with the big stuff affecting 
nations. I mentioned this earlier. I want 
to tease it out a bit here. The Lord is not only concerned 
with the big stuff affecting nations, the Moabite rebellion 
in chapter 3, which is successfully put down, but also with the small 
stuff. And when I say small stuff, I 
don't mean that it's insignificant, but comparatively. You know, 
Moabite rebellion against an entire nation, we'd call that 
a big thing. You know, if some nation invaded 
Canada, we'd call that a big thing. When it comes to our own 
debts and when it comes to our own life in this world, those 
are big things, but you get the contrast I'm making. Big stuff, 
small stuff. Small stuff doesn't mean it's 
unimportant, as this section teaches us, because God deals 
with it. but big in terms of national 
sort of situation, and small with reference to the things 
that we go through on a daily basis. So God is not only concerned 
with the big stuff affecting nations, but also with the small 
stuff of everyday life. And what we've seen in this passage 
in terms of everyday life includes debt, death, killer stew, and 
just a few loaves. Those sorts of things God is 
concerned with as well. And I think that naturally from 
this, two implications follow. The first is to recognize this 
and to understand it and to use it as an antidote against carnal 
anxiety. In other words, if God is concerned 
to subdue Moabite rebellion and to make sure that a nameless 
woman gets endless oil, at least for a time, then that ought to 
promote in us a lack or a desire, rather, to resist the tendency 
to carnal anxiety or what we popularly call worry. If you 
look at Matthew 6, I think this is the gist of Jesus' teaching 
in this particular section. the antidote to worry in Matthew 
6, 25 to 34. Therefore I say to you, do not 
worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, 
nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more 
than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of 
the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You see, God tends to birds. And if you're more valuable than 
birds, you may not be at the level of a Moabite rebellion 
against the Northern Kingdom. Might not be big stuff that way. Even though it is classified 
as small stuff, you need to understand that God is there in the small 
stuff. And as a result, do not worry. Do not be riddled with 
carnal anxiety. Don't be paralyzed by that sort 
of a mindset. But rather, look at the birds. 
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap 
nor gather in the barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. 
Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, 
can add one cubit to his stature?" I mean, in the end of the day, 
it just doesn't help or benefit to worry, doesn't it? Or does 
it? Have you ever got to the end 
of the day of worry? I'm a worrier. I'm a chronic worrier. I don't 
have any qualms admitting that to everybody here. I think you 
probably already know that. But at the end of the day, and 
I don't ever do this, but I probably should, I should reflect and 
say, did any of my worry today make anything better? I think 
the answer will always be a resounding no. No. I've learned that half 
the stuff I worry about doesn't happen. You know, it's just really 
not a good exercise to engage in. So why do you worry about 
clothing? He says in verse 28, consider 
the lilies of the field. You see what he's saying? Look 
at the small stuff to learn of your God. I think we're in tune 
to look at the big stuff and to see God in that, and that's 
good. We better see God in the big stuff. But I think here, 
precisely, Jesus is saying, see God in the little stuff, and 
may that serve as an antidote to your carnal anxiety and to 
your worry and your panic. Look at the lilies of the field. They don't toil, they don't spin, 
and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was 
not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass 
of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the 
oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 
What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? 
For after these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father 
knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom 
of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be 
added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow 
will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its 
own trouble." Now, it's not lost on me, brethren, that I just 
confessed a sin to you in terms of worry. Four times Christ says, 
don't worry. Four times in that big of a passage. He points to birds, he points 
to lilies, he points to gentiles. He says, God's got this. Why do you worry about it? And 
I think having that proper understanding of God in the big stuff, but 
God in the small stuff as well. And that's what a 2 Kings 4 just 
parades, it highlights, it demonstrates. It is conspicuous that it's the 
small, everyday, ordinary, earthy affairs that God speaks to and 
deals with. But as well, this is an antidote 
with reference to fear. Notice in Matthew 10. Now, carnal 
anxiety and fear are very similar, or worry and fear are similar, 
but not exactly the same sort of thing. But notice, Jesus' 
emphasis with reference to not fearing. In the context, it's 
with reference to the apostles on a missionary trip, going out 
and preaching the gospel. Certainly they're going to meet 
opposition. The book of Acts highlights that. The opposition 
first from unbelieving Israel, opposition from the Roman Empire. 
There's going to be great opposition against the Christian church. 
And so Jesus is cautioning, Jesus is exhorting, Jesus is encouraging 
his disciples not to fear. But notice how he encourages 
them not to fear. Notice, specifically, in verse, 
he mentions do not fear in verse 26, but then drop down to verse 
27, whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, what 
you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Do not fear those 
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear 
him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. There's 
a whole lot of things that could be said there, but I think it 
points to the incompetence of men and the omnicompetence of 
God. Man's incompetent. He can only 
kill your body. God's omnicompetent. He can kill 
body and soul and throw it into hell. So you have to fear him. Don't fear men that are incompetent, 
but rather fear God who is omni-competent. And then notice. How does he 
display this? In the small stuff. Are not two 
sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to 
the ground apart from your father's will. But the very hairs of your 
head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are 
of more value than many sparrows. So an antidote to fear, a help 
so that we do not, is to understand God's sovereignty and power in 
the midst of the small stuff. And if you haven't seen it, if 
I haven't been clear, 2 Kings chapter 4 is a trophy case of 
God's dealings in the small stuff. Again, don't go home and say, 
Butler thinks death of a child is a small thing. I'm not saying 
that. Moabite rebellion against Israel, 
life on the ground in terms of ordinary day-in, day-out situations. Secondly, the Lord is not only 
concerned with kings, and sometimes He isn't, but He's also concerned 
with nobodies. There's a great contrast between 
chapters 3 and chapter 4. Elisha doesn't even want to look 
at doesn't even want to look at Jehoram. Verse 13, Elisha 
said to the king of Israel, what have I to do with you? Go to 
the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother. 
But the king of Israel said to him, no, for the Lord has called 
these three together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And 
Elisha said, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, surely 
were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king 
of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. So you see, 
God doesn't even want to look at Jehoram, but he does. He does 
tend to not only Jehoram, but especially to Jehoshaphat. Actually, 
he tends to Jehoshaphat. Jehoram is a benefactor. He is 
sort of on the sidelines and receives blessings. But he's 
not only concerned with kings, he's also concerned with nobodies. 
A nameless widow, in the first part, a nameless Shunammite, 
a nameless group of guys sitting around a stew pot, and a nameless 
hundred that got to eat. You see, God's not only concerned 
with big stuff, small stuff, kings and nobodies. Isn't that 
encouraging? See, that's what chapter 4 of 
2 Kings teaches us. Thirdly, the Lord is not only 
concerned with the direct advancement of His kingdom, but also He delights 
in showing kindness in the midst of the kingdom. What do I mean 
by that? When Elisha comes to the stew 
pot or calls for the stew pot, that directly aids the advance 
of the kingdom, doesn't it? I mean, I'm sure prophets were 
just like men today. If they didn't eat, they dropped 
dead. If you don't have a prophet, you don't have the Word of God. 
And so when these prophets are fed, it is a direct advancement 
of the Kingdom of God. But for the others, they're not 
directly advancing the Kingdom of God. It's God delighting and 
showing kindness and mercy without necessarily a view to advancing 
the Kingdom. The Shunammite woman. No notoriety, 
no redemptive historical sort of presence in Israel, just a 
son for a woman to put a smile on her face. So it's for the 
advancement of the kingdom and it's for happiness in the life 
of the kingdom. Fourthly, the Lord utilizes means 
in this chapter, oil, a bowl with salt, flour in the stew, 
a few loaves to feed a multitude, but the power is according to 
his word. That's what's uppermost in the 
chapter, and that's what I said earlier. We're not to take these 
two particular miracles and universalize them and think that we can throw 
anything into our stew pot and eat it, because in 2 Kings 4 
they didn't die, so neither will we. Or we ought not to think 
we don't need to get enough food for the church picnic, because 
if we just have 12 hamburgers, it's going to feed everybody, 
because that's what happened in 2 Kings chapter. We're not 
to do that. We're to understand that precisely 
what God promises comes to pass in 2 Kings 4. It's the power 
of His Word. Fifth, the Lord brings judgment 
on His unfaithful people, the famine, but also demonstrates 
grace in the midst of such judgment, like food. You got the overarching 
term in verse 38. There's famine in the land. That's 
judgment. But in the midst of the land, 
there's grace because God is providing for his remnant in 
the midst of this particular context. You see, God, the prophet 
Habakkuk prayed, in your wrath, remember mercy. Why do you think 
Habakkuk prayed that? Probably because he had witnessed 
such things in God's history. We can pray that prayer today. 
In your wrath, we believe that this culture is progressively 
and more so under the wrath and judgment of God. And we can pray, 
in your wrath, remember mercy, because of 2 Kings chapter 4. 
There's famine in the land, but in the midst of the famine in 
the land, it is punctuated by these outflows of God's grace 
in terms of the provision of food. Six, the Lord not only 
grants grace in the provision of food, but He does so in an 
exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think manner. They had some left over. Beautiful. We don't even sometimes don't 
even eat up leftovers. It goes into the fridge, it grows 
hair after a week and we toss it out. You wouldn't throw away 
leftovers here. Remember when we used to go to 
Union Gospel Mission, we'd see food on the ground out in front 
of the Misha and Steve and I would muse. You wouldn't see that laying 
on a street in the Sudan. I mean, there's no way there'd 
be a big sweet bun laying on the street. It would be eaten. It would be gone in Haiti. I 
mean, it's just amazing. Homeless take route back here 
and they leave pizzas and sandwiches. I mean, if it was a famine in 
the land, there'd be no pizzas and sandwiches on the ground 
at the Free Grace Baptist Church, would there? So the fact that 
there were leftovers, brethren, that was a blessing from God. 
That was in Ephesians 3.20 moment. He does exceedingly abundantly 
above all that we ask or think. We just wanted something for 
our bellies now, but we got something for later too. This is the God 
of 2 Kings 4. And then finally, the Lord God 
not only rules His people from on high, He sends His prophet 
to dwell among them as His representative. Imagine how it warmed the hearts 
of the remnant to see Elisha and to see these schools of the 
prophets. They knew things weren't right in Israel. They knew that 
every time they went to their pantries and there was only a 
little bit of food sitting on that shelf. They knew that because 
of Ahab or Jeroboam, and then Ahab, and then Ahaziah, and then 
Jehoram, and then the whole host of ungodly kings that they had 
been unfortunate enough to live under. They knew what was happening. 
So they'd see these school of the prophets, or they'd hear 
these school of the prophets, or they'd see the prophet Elijah. 
It must have cheered their hearts. Proven sort of summarizes at 
the end. He says, it is the chapter's 
concluding demonstration that the Lord is a God who heals and 
provides. Talking about these two miracles. 
A God who brings life from death, it is also the final proof that 
the God of Elijah is now the God of Elisha. And I think that's 
a beautiful way to conclude. With reference to the miracles, 
I mentioned the typical significance of the miracles. Generally, Elisha, 
like Jesus, does a lot of miracles. I mean, we see that in Matthew 
5-7, the authoritative word of Christ. Matthew 8-9, miracle, 
miracle, miracle. One after another. Elisha the 
prophet, he's commissioned in chapter 2, or he receives the 
mantle. He does a couple of initial things in Jericho. and then at 
Bethel, and then in chapter 3 he speaks the authoritative word 
to these kings going into battle to subdue this Moabite rebellion, 
and then chapters 4 to 6 he's a Jesus-like figure going from 
place to place to place doing miracles among the common folk, 
among the nameless, among the nobodies. That's precisely what 
Jesus did. But this last miracle specifically 
points to our Lord. the specific significance when 
Jesus fed the 5,000 and then again the 4,000. We might wonder, 
why a 5,000 and then a 4,000? I think the 4,000 was a Gentile 
region. I think what we have in the feeding 
of the 5,000 is Jesus ministering to Jews, and then the 4,000 reason 
I think it can be shown, I tried to show it when I preached this 
passage, is that he's feeding Gentiles. Jew-Gentile benefit 
under the Messiah of Israel, even our Lord Jesus Christ. So the specific significance 
of this last miracle is that it's typical of our Lord Jesus. And when we see Jesus in the 
New Testament scriptures doing these things, he is the antitype 
to Elisha, but as well in John's gospel, as he records the feeding 
miracle, Jesus is the antitype to Moses. Moses gave you bread 
in the wilderness. Your father's ultimately died. 
The bread I give you, you will not Well, let us close in a word 
of prayer. Father, we thank you for your 
word. We thank you for the excellence and the power and the majesty 
displayed in a passage like 2 Kings 4. It cheers us and it encourages 
us, God, to see you active and moving and blessing and dealing 
and doing miracles in the lives of ordinary people, people whose 
names are not even recorded in Scripture. Encourage us with 
this view of our God, and encourage us with the reality that You 
are over all things, the big things, the small things, and 
that You are a God who calls us not to worry, and a God who 
calls us not to fear. May we take these things, may 
we pray them in, and may You help us to be more and more conformed 
unto the image of Your beloved Son. And we pray in His most 
blessed name. Amen.