2 Kings 4:38–41 // Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew
38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And asthe sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set onthe large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” 39 One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lapfull of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. 40 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. 41 He said, “Then bring flour.” And he ethrew it into thepot and said, “Pour some out for the men, that they may eat.” And there was no harm in the pot.
The other day I shared my initial thoughts about these verses and a quote from Spurgeon. This little passage has been speaking to me a lot and here I am again sharing the second part of what the Holy Spirit has been talking to me about through it.
Let’s start with another quote from Spurgeon:
i. “There is death in the pot; how is the Church to meet it? I believe it is to imitate Elisha. We need not attempt to get the wild gourds out of the pot; they are cut too small, and are too cunningly mixed up; they have entered too closely into the whole mass of teaching to be removed. Who shall extract the leaven from the leavened loaf? What then? We must look to God for help, and use the means indicated here. ‘Bring meal.’ Good wholesome food was cast into the poisonous stuff, and by God’s gracious working it killed the poison; and the Church must cast the blessed gospel of the grace of God into the poisoned pottage, and false doctrine will not be able to destroy men’s souls as it now does.” (Spurgeon)
When I read this, I really fell in love. This quote is so powerful. I think when we look around in our world today, it’s so easy to be overwhelmed and discouraged by evil. Evil is growing and we know according the word that it will continue to abound in the end times. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says,
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
The word says that false prophets will become more and more (Mathew 24:24), people will call evil good and what is good evil (Isaiah 5:20), and according to Matthew 24:12, Jesus tells us that, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
We know as Christians, Jesus warns us of these things and tells us to endure, but if you’re anything like me, it can be hard to see all the wickedness and what seems to be a lack of justice and love in the world nowadays.
Through this, God reminded me that the most ordinary thing is used in the hand of God to turn the tides and heal our land. God had Elisha sprinkle something ordinary in this pot of poison to strip it of its sickness and death. God does the same thing with us today. I have seen this multiple times throughout the book of 2 Kings so far. Three instances to be exact:
2 Kings 2:19-22 (ESV) 19 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
As I read this again this morning, I noticed that he used SALT to heal the water! SALT!
Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
In this verse, salt represents Christians. Salt represent the unique influence and responsibility believers have in the world. According to my research it says that salt represents three things in ancient Israel:
Preservation against decay: Without refrigeration, salt was essential for stopping meat and food from spoiling in the desert heat. Spiritually, believers act as a moral and spiritual preservative in society, helping to hold back corruption, injustice, and the destructive effects of sin through a lifestyle of integrity, justice, and love.
Flavor and enhancement: Salt enhances the taste of food and brings out what is good in it. Followers of Christ are meant to "season" the world by introducing hope, peace, kindness, and grace into broken or hostile environments, making life better because they are present in it.
Distinctiveness and value: Salt was a rare, precious commodity in the ancient world (historically valued and used in trade or compensation). Just as salt must remain distinct to do its job, disciples are called to live out Kingdom values—such as the Beatitudes—without blending into or adopting the corrupting patterns of the surrounding culture.
Jesus' warning that salt can "lose its saltiness" emphasizes that if a Christian compromises their faith or becomes indistinguishable from the world, they lose their functional usefulness and witness for God's Kingdom.
So this was so crazy to see how God demonstrated using an ordinary thing to heal something necessary for us to live.
2 Kings 5:9-14 — Just to give you some context, Naaman is the Syrian general and has come down with leprosy, a skin disease. A Jewish servant girl in his home has told him that there is a prophet in her land that can heal him so he asks his king for leave to go visit him. He arrives at Elisha’s house and this is where it picks up. — “9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana[c] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Here God uses an ordinary action to heal. Being cleansed does not take a production. That’s what Naaman expected. He expected Elisha to come outside and wave around his hands, make some big fuss, and then he was outraged when it was such an ordinary command. Wash in a river? I couldn’t tell if it was pride or if Naaman was distraught because he thought Elisha didn’t understand the depth of his problem. Whether it’s the cleansing of this world from wickedness or even our own souls through salvation. It’s a simple task, “Wash and be clean!” Sometimes we think it has to be some big show but no, sometimes the miracle, the healing, the restoration, salvation comes in simple acts of obedience. When it comes to sharing the Gospel, the good news, it doesn’t take fireworks or something fancy, just obedience. The questions is will you obey God in what seems simple and trust that he knows what he is doing. God sees the depth of our pain and problems, he sees the depth of wickedness in the earth but again it doesn’t take something grand, just surrender and trust in Him who is gracious to make ordinary things, acts, and people life changing.
2 Kings 6:1-7 (ESV), “Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.”3 Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” 4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. 7 And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
Again something ordinary, a stick, was used to do a unique miracle. God “has the power to work direct and supernatural miracles. He typically chooses to work with ordinary instruments, actions, or human effort rather than bypassing them completely”.
So, again, don’t be discouraged by the state of the world or of the souls of this earth. Be encouraged that God uses ordinary seemingly insignificant things to change the world, to heal from death. So keep being faithful. Keep praying. Keep serving. God will take care of the rest.
