HOMILETICS OF 2 Kings 4:42-44
THE SUPERABUNDANT GOODNESS OF GOD
I. Provides for the daily wants of man. “Give unto the people that they may eat” (2 Kings 4:42). How enormous are the thought and toil involved in supplying the daily wants of a simple city—e.g., London! How unremitting the care, how affluent the goodness, of that God who supplies the multifarious and incessant demands of the world! Vast as is the consumption, the supply never fails. “The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (Psalms 145:15-16).
II. Difficult for the unbelieving to appreciate. “What, shall I set this before an hundred men?” (2 Kings 4:43). The selfish and unbelieving mind is blinded to the infinite resources of the Divine goodness: the limitation of the means is inadequate to the greatness of the need. But the eye only sees what it brings with it the power to see. The eye of faith sees what is invisible to the ordinary vision. True faith is undaunted, even when it sees only the last crust, and the last pot of oil. Necessity is a great test, and a great strengthener of faith.
III. Multiplies the little to supply the needs of the many. “And they did eat and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord” (2 Kings 4:44). What seemed humanly insufficient, was so Divinely blessed as to be more than enough. A contented mind needs but little to ensure its happiness, while the abundance of the rich may fail to give satisfaction and peace. “Too much wealth is very frequently the occasion of poverty. He whom the wantonness of abundance has once softened, easily sinks into neglect of his affairs, and he that thinks he can afford to be negligent, is not far from being poor. He will soon be involved in perplexities which his inexperience will render insurmountable; he will fly for help to those whose interest it is that he should be more distressed, and will be at last torn to pieces by the vultures that always hover over fortunes in decay.” It is the blessing of heaven that makes the little more, and teaches man when be has enough.
LESSONS:—
1. The goodness of God is most evident in times of need.
2. Should be unhesitatingly trusted.
3. Should be gratefully adored.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2 Kings 4:42-44. The grandeur and minuteness of Divine Providence. I. So blesses the earth that it provides for the wants of all. II. The scarcity of one locality is counterbalanced by the abundance of another. III. Does not overlook the commonest needs of man. IV. Makes a little go a great way.
—Jehovah ordered it so that a strange man, uncalled and unexpected, should bring to the prophet in a time of famine the first fruits which belong to Jehovah according to law (Numbers 15:19-20; Deuteronomy 26:2); and He blessed this gift so that it sufficed to satisfy the entire community of the prophets. The Lord himself, at the feeding of the five thousand, makes reference, not to this narrative, but to the feeding of the people with manna in the wilderness, and He gives to His miracle an express object and significance (John 6:32) such as we cannot at all think of in this case. Besides that, the historical connection, the occasion, the persons, all are utterly different, and the asserted similarity is reduced simply to this, that through the Divine influence a little suffices for many—an altogether ordinary truth which pierces through many other incidents in the history of redemption which are entirely different from this one.—Lange.
—From the miracle of the healing of the bitter pottage it is appropriate to pass immediately to one by which a few barley loaves and ears of corn are made to supply the wants of many. As the one suggests the power of Divine truth to counteract the evils of heresy, the other may represent that not only must heresy in the church be offset with truth, but, to keep out heresy, the church must be abundantly fed with the true bread from heaven, which giveth life unto the world.—Whedon.
2 Kings 4:43. A covetous spirit. I. Would withhold from others even the necessaries of life. II. Has no faith in an abundance it cannot see; or in the axiom—“There is that scattereth and yet increaseth.” III. Is often rebuked by acts of Divine generosity.
2 Kings 4:44. Here is a specimen of the work of Christ in apostolic churches, receiving the alms of the faithful at God’s altar, and seeking for true riches by bestowing those offerings, blessed by God with increase, to the benefit of His people.—Wordsworth.