CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
2 Kings 4:38. Sons of the prophets were sitting before him—This means, not that they lived in common with Elisha, but sat as scholars before him for teaching. Seethe pottage—A kind of thick broth of rice or meal, vegetables, and meat.
2 Kings 4:40. There is death in the pot—Probably the “wild gourds” (2 Kings 4:39) were the fruit of the colocynth, exceedingly bitter, and causing severe cholic. Freely eaten, they might cause death. 2 Kings 4:42-44. Barley loaves, supernaturally multiplied—A foreshadowing of Christ’s greater miracle of feeding the thousands. This man from Baal-shalisha brought the first fruits (Deuteronomy 18:4, &c.) to Elisha as being “the man of God,” rather than to the false priests of Baal who overran the land, but were judged by this man to be less worthy to act as Jehovah’s representatives and receive his religious offering than the prophet.—W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 2 Kings 4:38-41
THE POISON OF SIN AND ITS CURE
THIS miracle of the healing of the poisonous pottage is a counterpart of that of the healing of the waters of Jericho (2 Kings 2:19-22). There the power of Elisha’s God works on the water; here on the food of the prophets. The chief value of both miracles lies in the rich typical lessons they suggest concerning the coming in of Divine grace and power into the domain of man’s most common life and wants, to leaven and heal with gracious influences all the disturbances and bitternesses of earthly experience. The incident related in this paragraph is illustrative of the poison of sin and its cure. Observe—
I. That humanity is infected with the poison of sin. It penetrates all classes, and mingles with the ever-changing circumstances of human life. It is so subtle in its workings, and so deceptive in its appearance, as to escape detection till its effects are felt, as was the case with the wild gourds innocently gathered by a son of the prophets (2 Kings 4:39). It weakens everything it taints. It is a foe to all stability. It is said that when Nicephorus Phocas had built a strong wall about his palace for his own security, in the night time he heard a voice crying to him, “O Emperor! though thou build thy wall as high as the clouds, yet if sin be within, it will overthrow all.” It is the custom of hunters in Africa, when they have killed a poisonous snake, to cut off its head, and carefully bury it in the ground, well knowing that if a naked foot trod on one of these fangs it would be fatally wounded; the venom is as deadly after the snake is dead. But sin is a venomous snake which no human hunter can slay; it insinuates itself everywhere, and everywhere spreads its deadly virus.
II. That the poison of sin is fatal in its effects. “There is death in the pot” (2 Kings 4:40). Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death (James 1:15). The almond tree blossoms before the foliage appears. The splendour of its ruby flowers lures the winged insects of the air, but as they sip its poisoned chalices they fall dead in myriads at its root. So sin is like that tree, attracting human souls to drink in pleasure from its luscious flowers until they fall, deluded, in toxicated, dead. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
III. That the poison of sin is neutralized by the gracious provisions of the Gospel (2 Kings 4:41). There was no virtue in the meal itself to dissipate the poison of the pottage; it was but the means by which the miraculous power wrought the cure. So in the restoration to moral health of sin-poisoned humanity, while means are used, and must be used, the healing, saving power is Divine. The gospel, divinely devised, divinely developed, and divinely applied, is the unfailing panacea for the world’s evil.
LESSONS:—
1. Sin is the great source of all human misery.
2. The remedy for human misery is Divinely provided.
3. God is not indifferent to the common daily wants of human life.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2 Kings 4:38. The pursuit of truth. I. Is carried on by earnest souls in the midst of national distress. “There was a dearth in the land.” II. Brings men into the presence of the great and good. “The sons of the prophets were sitting before him.” III. Contented with a modest supply of physical needs. “Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.”
—The prophets were poor, and glad of pottage. The saints are kept at hard commons, but have their keeping of free cost. The wicked have larger cakes, but pay sweetly.—Trapp.
—The sons of the prophets had to struggle with want and distress, but no want could hinder them from entering the community, or could induce them to separate. Life in common, in faith, in prayer, in the praise of God, was dearer to them than pleasant days, and enjoying the pleasure of sin. Where unity of spirit and true love call people together to a common meal, there is no need of great preparations and expensive wishes; they are readily satisfied with the simplest food.—Lange.
2 Kings 4:39. Ignorance of simple things. I. Inexcusable, because within the reach of all. II. Yet, alas! too prevalent. III. May be the occasion of fatal consequences.
2 Kings 4:40. The deadly power of sin. I. Mingles itself with the sweetest experiences of life. II. Causes many to turn with loathing even from their necessary food. III. Beyond all human power to conquer.
—It is often with spiritual good as it is with bodily good: it looks as if it were healthful and nourishing—i.e., the words are beautiful and attractive—and yet there is soul-poison in it, which is destructive, if we are not on our guard.
2 Kings 4:41. What was there in the meal to counter ct the bad properties of the gourds? Nothing, necessarily.
The meal, like the salt cast into the foul waters of Jericho (2 Kings 2:21), and the tree at Marah (Exodus 15:25), was merely the suggestive symbol of the Divine powers of nourishment and healing which subsisted in Elisha’s God. It bore a similar relation to this miracle that Elisha’s stretching himself upon the body of the dead child did to the Divine power that raised the child to life. It was the earthly medium through which the spirit worked. All the bad properties of the pottage were miraculously taken away. So, say some of the older divines, the healthsome meal of sound Christian doctrine, entering into the mind and heart of the church, shall counteract and take away the poison of ill-born heresy.
—Eminent goodness. I. Is not lifted above the commonest wants of life. II. Sympathizes with the needy and the suffering. III. Is the medium of timely relief.