Death in the pot – Preaching
Preaching Outline on II Kings 4:38-41 – And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said to his servant, Set the great pot on the fire, and make a broth of herbs for the sons of the prophets.
So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild goat, and gathered from it his cloak full of coltsfoot; and he came and cut it into the pot of broth, for they did not know it.
So they fed the men. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the broth, that they cried out and said, Man of God, there is death in the pot. They could not eat.
But he said, “Bring flour. And he poured it into the pot and said, “Take it out for the people to eat. So there was no evil in the pot.
Introduction to II Kings 4:38-41
There was a famine in Israel in the days of the prophet Elisha, and it was the result of God’s judgment on the people because of their sins.
In those days, Elisha returned to Gilgal and found the sons of the prophets there, sitting in his presence and waiting for the servant of God to take action.
Development
The world today is experiencing a great time of spiritual hunger, and people are turning to everything they can find in order to meet their spiritual needs. However, what we see is the hunger remaining, because the things of the world don’t meet these needs of the soul.
The church at this time has been resting in the presence of the Lord Jesus, because it knows that he is powerful to supply all its needs, and that his providence always comes at the right time.
Elisha sent his servant to put the large pot on the fire and then ordered him to prepare a broth of herbs so that everyone could eat. When this was done, all the sons of the prophets went out into the fields to look for herbs and prepare the broth.
One of them, however, went too far in his search for herbs, and found a poisonous and toxic type of plant, called coloquintidas (a type of wild cucumber), and inadvertently picked a good quantity and came and threw it all into the big pot, along with the other herbs. When the broth was served, everyone started to feel sick, and someone shouted: “There’s death in the pot!”.
The food of God’s people is the Doctrine of the Word, prepared by the Holy Spirit to be distributed in the body. The Word of God is our food, which satisfies our hunger in times of scarcity like today. Only the Lord knows how to prepare this food, and He also knows what we need to feed on.
God has used the Ministry (like Elisha’s servant) to transmit the Word of truth that will feed the church. Everything has to be done in the big pot (the heart full of grace) and in the fire (communion of the Holy Spirit).
All of God’s Doctrine has been applied to the body, which has fed on it and lived by it. Nothing is done outside the body, because what comes from outside the body can bring great harm to the body and its members. When someone moves away from the body, they lose communion and discernment, and end up absorbing strange things, from the world, from religion, from books, etc. and then bringing them into the church, causing discomfort and death to those who taste them. We cannot bring the things of religion, its methods, dogmas, customs, etc. into our midst, because these (apparently harmless) things can contaminate many, especially those new to the faith, causing them serious spiritual harm.
Conclusion of II Kings 4:38-41
The prophet Elisha ordered flour to be brought and put into the pot with the poisonous broth, so that death could be removed.
Jesus is the wheat that was ground for us (flour), to heal us of all our ills. Just as the flour absorbed the death in the pot, Jesus absorbed death in his body in our place, to give us eternal life.
When the church goes through times of danger, the infiltration of teachings not revealed by the Holy Spirit and other things that bring harm, it is necessary to seek a deeper communion with the Lord Jesus so that death is supplanted and removed from the body (church), so that everyone can continue to feed and live in the presence of the Lord.
Preaching Outline on II Kings 4:38-41 – And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said to his servant, Set the great pot on the fire, and make a broth of herbs for the sons of the prophets.
So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild goat, and gathered from it his cloak full of coltsfoot; and he came and cut it into the pot of broth, for they did not know it.
So they fed the men. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the broth, that they cried out and said, Man of God, there is death in the pot. They could not eat.
But he said, “Bring flour. And he poured it into the pot and said, “Take it out for the people to eat. So there was no evil in the pot.
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